A Christmas Gone Awry
by Fire-Eco-Sage
Summary: Its Christmas at Jak, Aleighna and Chris' house. All the family is visiting, and having a good time. But a little accident caused the twins lives ... literally!
1. This The Worst Time Of The Year

Soft white flakes drifted from a mass of swirling black clouds, coating the streets and rooftops of Haven City with a fine powder. Citizens milled about dressed in heavy coats and scarves, their heads down to prevent the wind from nipping at the raw skin of their faces. Despite the less-than-pleasant temperature, however, a general sense of merriment hung in the air, a result of the knowledge of the approaching holiday. Everyone could feel it, from the seedy characters that gathered in local pubs to the high-ranking residents of the palace.

Christmas was upon Haven at last.

It was the most beloved time of year for the townsfolk, and the evidence of that fact was everywhere. Not a single door was missing a sweet-smelling wreath, and sparkling lights of numerous colors were strung from any and all surfaces imaginable. Several residential yards housed handmade snowmen, and in the Palace Square, a massive Christmas tree towered over the buildings, twinkling brightly against its metallic surroundings.

In the New Haven sector of the city, the Mar household was certainly no exception to the festive atmosphere. While living in an apartment didn't necessarily allow for much outside decorating, the interior design was nothing short of extravagant. Gold, red, and green garland had been tied around anything suitable for it, and a wicker sleigh had been placed near the fireplace, complete with empty boxes wrapped as presents. A two-foot-tall Santa stood beside it, waving warmly at the vacant room thanks to the power cord the twins had neglected to unplug.

Across the hearth of the fireplace, four brightly colored stockings had been hung on hooks that spelled out the word "Noel", one for each of the siblings and one for Keira. The she-elf had recently moved in with her boyfriend, — much to the twins' disdain — seeing as how they would be starting a family much sooner than they'd originally planned.

Around the coffee table in the living room, a miniature train circled the tracks that had been constructed, its cars overflowing with tiny gifts. In the hallway leading to the bedrooms, a long cabinet had been cleared off to allow space for the little snow-covered village that occupied it now. And, dominating one corner of the front room, an elegant Christmas tree completed the whole holiday feel, its bare branches just pleading to be decorated.

Inside one of the bedrooms, Christella and Aleighna Mar were nestled in their respective beds, fast asleep. They'd even opted to change their bedding to fit the spirit of the season, Chris having chosen a dark blue blanket with snowflakes on it, while Aleighna settled for pine green covers with reindeer.

As if on cue, both sisters smiled while still dosing, each exploring the wonders of dreamland. Aleighna was dreaming about Santa and the North Pole, as she simply had Christmas on the brain. Chris, meanwhile, was having a glorious vision of stuffing one of Ashelin Praxis' bras with raw yakow meat.

A low creak broke the peaceful quiet of the room as Jak entered, running a hand through his tousled blonde/green hair. He smiled in the soft gloom at the forms of his unconscious sisters for a moment, and then promptly flipped on the overhead light, causing both of them to jolt awake with simultaneous groans.

"Do you _mind_?" Aleighna grumbled, pulling the covers up over her face to protect her eyes from the sudden brightness. "I know there's no hope for your mug, Jakky-boy, but some of us actually need beauty sleep, you know."

"I was just about to sick a hungry crocadog on her!" Chris complained, her mind still engorged in her dream that had been so rudely interrupted.

"You had the meat dream again?" Aleighna guessed, smirking at her disgruntled twin. Chris nodded once, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at their elder sibling for waking her.

Jak arched a dark green eyebrow at his younger sisters, and then shrugged, deciding he'd probably be better off not knowing. "I just came in to tell you two that I'm leaving for my dance class in a little bit, so Keira will be in charge."

"You're leaving your pregnant girlfriend in charge of _us_?" Chris gasped, staring at the Eco-infused elf as if he'd just spontaneously transformed into an ottsel. "Are you _trying_ to kill your child?"

"Of course not!" Jak retorted, rolling his eyes at her. "Because I know you two will behave yourselves while I'm gone, _right_?"

The twins exchanged a knowing grin, and then turned back to their brother, their expressions radiating innocence.

"Whatever you say, Jak," they answered simultaneously, looking as if two golden halos would pop up above their heads at any moment.

Sighing wearily, Jak spun around and exited their room, sending a silent prayer to the Precursors that his mischievous siblings would spare his poor girlfriend any unnecessary stress.

As he trudged back down the hall, Jak paused outside his own bedroom and cautiously opened the door, stepping quietly inside. He could just make out the sleeping silhouette of Keira atop the bed they shared, her pale skin illuminated by the soft morning glow filtering through the window.

Smiling to himself, Jak crossed the room and leaned over the side of the mattress, pressing a gentle kiss to the young mechanic's forehead.

Keira stirred in her sleep, her eyelids lifting groggily to reveal her bright emerald irises. Her bleary gaze focused on his face, and the corners of her lips twitched upwards in a smile.

"You leaving?" she inquired, remembering that he had a lesson today. Ever since the two of them had uncovered the old video of Jak dancing, he'd picked it up again, and now taught his own class in a studio not too far from their apartment.

"Yeah, so you're stuck with the Demolition Duo for a while," he informed her, grinning apologetically.

"Don't worry, I'll keep them in line," Keira assured him, smirking teasingly. "A wrench is good for more than just fixing cars, you know."

Both she and Jak laughed lightly, the latter just managing to resist the urge to grimace. He knew all-too-well how creative Keira could be with her wrench's usefulness, and he's had the bruised skull to prove it.

After a moment, the mirth in Keira's expression faded; worry taking its place and dragging the edges of her mouth into a frown.

"You will be back in time for the ultrasound, won't you?" she fretted, propping herself up on her elbow while her other hand rested unconsciously on her abdomen.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Jak soothed her, laying one hand over the top of hers on her swollen stomach.

The pregnant she-elf visibly relaxed, her shoulders sagging and a relieved sigh escaping her throat. Today was her first ultrasound, after all, and she wanted Jak to be there to see their growing child.

Chuckling, Jak bent closer to her and claimed her lips with his own in a brief, fiery kiss.

"Ugh, that is _not_ something I wanted to see this early in the morning," a voice complained from the doorway. Jak and Keira reluctantly broke apart to see the twins standing just beyond the threshold, both their visages looking rather disturbed.

"Well, you'd better get used to it, sis," Aleighna sighed, slinging her arm casually around Chris' shoulders and stumbling when the latter slipped out from under it. "I'm sure we'll have plenty more, uh, 'rude awakenings' now that Keira's living here."

"Was there a reason you interrupted us?" Jak grumbled, cutting off his sisters before they had the chance to go off on a tangent.

"Oh, yeah," Chris replied, returning her gaze to her elder sibling. "Hate to break up your little moment, bro, but we thought you'd like to know that your class starts in five minutes."

"Damn, I'm gonna be late!" Jak groaned, leaping to his feet. He dashed over to a nearby chair and grabbed his dance bag, slinging it over his shoulder and bending down to slip on his tennis shoes in the same movement.

"Uh, Jak?" Keira asked hesitantly, sitting up so that the blankets fell away from her torso, revealing her loose nightgown and the baby bump that was just distinguishable beneath the light fabric. "Did you plan on teaching your class in your pajamas?"

For indeed, Jak was still dressed in the clothes he'd slept in the previous night — namely a white sleeveless shirt and black sweatpants.

"It's dance class, not church!" Jak snorted, straightening up and striding quickly across the room. The twins parted to allow him to take his leave, but he paused out in the hallway, casting an affectionate glance in Keira's direction. "Love you, Keira. I'll see you this afternoon."

"Love you, too," Keira replied, beaming fondly at him.

"Hey, forget someone?" Aleighna complained just as Jak was about to dash off again.

"Oh yeah, stay out of trouble, you two," her older brother responded, fixing both of the twins with a stern gaze, and then disappearing into the living room.

"Gee, love you too, bro!" Chris yelled sarcastically right as the front door clicked shut somewhere out of sight.

A beat of silence passed between the three remaining she-elves, and then Keira swung her legs over the side of the bed and hauled herself to her feet, stretching drowsily.

"Careful there, Keir," Chris cautioned, her cerulean eyes alight with amusement. "You wouldn't wanna stretch too far and pull something."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Keira demanded, placing her hands on her hips and piercing the younger girl with a warning stare that was usually only reserved for Jak.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Aleighna answered for her sister, grinning teasingly. "We just don't want you doing anything that could harm our niece or nephew. Are you sure you aren't too weighed-down in the front to walk?"

Unfortunately for the twins, in some cruel combination of tiredness from being woken by their brother and the relative shortness of their attention spans, they forgot the one golden rule that Jak had drilled into their heads the day Keira moved in: _You ever heard the phrase "hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn"? Well, you'd better take that to heart, because let's just say that if you get a _pregnant_ woman mad at you… you've just signed the bottom line of your death warrant._

Those exact words flashed through both Aleighna and Chris' minds in the same instant, panic freezing them in place as a rage-fueled fire began to simmer in Keira's emerald irises. Quicker than they would have thought possible for a woman in her current state, the teal-haired she-elf yanked open the top drawer of her nightstand and withdrew her trusty wrench. Aleighna yelped in fright and ducked as the tool went sailing barely two inches over the top of her head, and then she returned her frightened gaze to Keira, her hand over her chest to make sure her heart hadn't stopped.

"Are you calling me fat?" Keira hissed, her fingers curling into fists at her sides.

"Of course not!" Chris objected immediately as Aleighna cowered behind her. "It was just a joke, Keira!"

Whatever else she may have said died in her throat as Keira stormed over to the scared-out-of-their-pants sisters, halting when she was less than a foot away from them. They shrank under her burning gaze, saying their prayers to the Precursors and wishing they'd written out their wills while they'd had the chance.

"Please don't kill us…" Aleighna begged, hoping fervently that a hole would randomly appear in the floor that she could fall into.

Tense silence crackled between the three girls for several agonizing seconds, and then, without warning, Keira's terrifying expression softened into a warm smile.

"Why on earth would I do that? I love you girls," she giggled, patting them both on the head fondly and then brushing past them, humming to herself. "Now, anyone up for breakfast? I'm starving."

Both Mar sisters blinked in shock as their older friend disappeared the same way Jak had gone not five minutes ago. A moment later, they could hear her bustling about in the kitchen.

"What the _hell_ was that?" Chris gasped, her eyes frozen wide and her jaw molding itself to the carpeted floor.

"Mood swings… oi vey…" Aleighna sighed, running a hand through her dark brown hair. "It's gonna be a _long_ five months…"

"Come on, you two, we've got to go!" Keira exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration.

"But they just got to the North Pole!" Chris protested from where she lay on the couch, her elbow propped up on the arm while Aleighna lounged comfortably opposite her. The duo was currently watching _The Santa Clause_, as they had been for most of the morning for lack of anything better to do.

"I don't care," Keira growled, striding over to the TV and flicking it off, ignoring the irritated outbursts from the twins. "My ultrasound is in less than twenty minutes, and I'll be damned if I'm late for it!"

For a moment it appeared as if the two Mars were about to argue, and then they thought better of it, neither one willing to relive their less-than-pleasant experience from earlier.

"Good," Keira sang, her attitude shifting unpredictably. She flashed her friends a grin, and then promptly left the room, snagging her keys off the kitchen counter on her way to the front door. The twins exchanged baffled glances, and then swiftly followed the feminine mechanic out and down to where her zoomer had been parked.

"Um, Keira? Are you sure you're ok to drive?" Chris asked hesitantly, ready to use her sister as a human shield should she invoke the elder she-elf's temper.

"Please, Chris," Keira scoffed, rolling her eyes as she hopped into her vehicle and started the engine, beaming as it purred to life. "I'm pregnant, not crippled."

Biting her tongue to hold back the argument she wanted to make, Chris climbed uncertainly into the zoomer, Aleighna settling in beside her and looking far less than at ease. Keira barely gave them the chance to strap in before she floored it, her inner racer propelling her to speeds that nearly broke the sound barrier.

The trio arrived at the hospital within ten minutes thanks to Keira's wild driving, and the oldest of the three instantly slid out of her vehicle and entered through the glass double-doors, Aleighna and Chris stumbling behind her and desperately trying to keep their lunches down where they belonged. They wobbled into the waiting room and collapsed into a pair of hard plastic chairs while Keira went to check in.

"I think Jak's been rubbing off on her," Aleighna grumbled, noting how remarkably similar the Eco-infused elf and his girlfriend were behind the wheel.

"I vote we walk everywhere from now on," Chris agreed irritably, putting her head between her knees in an effort to stop the room from spinning.

Keira joined them a few minutes later, flopping down in a seat beside Aleighna and resting her hands protectively on her abdomen.

"Jak better be here on time or I'm taking apart his morph-gun when we get home," she threatened, scowling at the bland off-white walls around her.

The teenagers beside her wisely decided to keep their comments to themselves, on the off chance that Keira had brought a spare wrench with her.

After what felt like hours of waiting — but in all actuality was really only a few minutes — a door in one corner of the room swung open to reveal a middle-aged nurse clad in a light pink uniform, clutching a clipboard in her gloved hands.

"Keira Hagai?" she called in a bright, slightly nasally voice, her gaze scanning the fifteen-or-so waiting patients.

"Coming, you two?" Keira asked her companions as she hauled herself to her feet, weaving through the rows of chairs and joining the nurse.

"Of course!" both sisters replied in unison, skipping after the sapphire-haired mechanic, excited at the prospect of seeing their developing niece or nephew for the first time.

"Right this way," the nurse greeted the trio, her thin lips curled upwards in a friendly smile. She led the three girls back the way she had come, the entrance to the waiting area clicking shut behind them as they strolled down a long, tiled hallway, passing door after door of what appeared to be examination rooms.

At the end of the hall, two automatic doors blocked their way. The nurse grabbed her hospital ID from where it hung around her neck and swiped it in a scanner attached to the wall, causing the doors to glide smoothly open and grant them passage.

"Sweet Precursors, it's harder to find your way through this place than it is the mess our bedroom," Chris complained as they followed their sterilized guide down several more corridors, losing track of how exactly they'd gotten to where they were in the first place.

Aleighna nodded in silent agreement, thinking fleetingly that it'd be easier to navigate through the open wasteland than this jumble of entrances and halls that passed as a hospital.

Finally, the four of them arrived at what Keira and the twins hoped was their destination: an empty room with some sort of monitor mechanism set up beside a plastic-wrapped gurney, somewhere in the maternity ward if they'd been reading the directorial signs correctly. A few semi-comfortable chairs stood up against one wall, and a rolling stool rested beside the strange machine.

"Alright, go ahead and have a seat, there, Keira," the nurse instructed, waving towards the gurney. Keira sat timidly on the edge, tucking a strand of blue/green hair behind her ear nervously. The nurse smiled encouragingly at her, and then shifted her attention to the Mar sisters, who were lingering uncertainly by the door. "And you two can pull up one of the extra chairs, if you'd like."

Chris and Aleighna visibly relaxed, scurrying eagerly over to the aforementioned seats and dragging them closer to their jittery-looking friend.

"Now, I'm just going to ask you a few general questions, Keira," the nurse continued, placing her clipboard on a pure white countertop lining one wall and pulling out a pen.

And so the inevitable interrogation began. Keira tried to contain her impatience as the nurse questioned her on anything and everything about how she'd been feeling recently. She answered the inquiries numbly, hardly aware that she was even speaking. Her mind was elsewhere, wondering where the hell Jak was, and debating whether or not to dismantle his Jetboard as well as the morph-gun when she got home.

All three women in the room exhaled in a relieved sigh when the nurse _finally_ announced that she was done, and promptly left them alone, assuring that a doctor would be in to see them shortly.

"Damn it, where's Jak?" Keira growled as soon as the nurse was out of sight. Neither Chris nor Aleighna missed the anxiety that flashed in the young mechanic's emerald irises.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it, Keir," Aleighna soothed her, leaning back in her chair while Chris eyed the remote for the gurney longingly, dying to test out the different buttons. "He promised he'd be here, and Jak's a man of his word… most of the time."

As if on cue, the heavy door burst open, revealing a very disheveled Jak, still dressed in his sweats and carrying his dance bag.

"Sorry I'm late!" he panted, dropping his bag unceremoniously on the floor. He sounded as if he'd run all the way there — which, considering how unpredictable Keira's temper was at the moment, he probably had. "Class went a little longer than expected, and then there was this one girl who tried to follow me home, and —"

"Jak Mar!" Keira interrupted furiously, placing her hands on her hips and fixing her out-of-breath boyfriend with a fiery glare. "Do you have _any_ idea how worried I was? I thought you weren't gonna show up!"

"I told you I was!" Jak defended himself, raising his hands in surrender. He didn't dare approach the teal-haired she-elf for fear of earning himself a whack over the head with the nearest object she could reach.

_Wow, way to be brave, Jak,_ he scolded himself, struggling not to flinch under Keira's unrelenting scowl. _Ask me to take on hordes of Metal Heads and Dark Makers, sure, no problem. Ask me to stand up to my girlfriend, and I back down and hope she doesn't bite my head off. Some hero I am._

Keira rather abruptly hopped off the gurney, and Jak backed away as she neared, fearing her wrath. She took him by surprise, however, when instead of landing a right hook to his jaw, she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Never do that to me again," she grumbled, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

Jak released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in a loud gust, winding his arms around Keira's waist. "Trust me, I won't."

"Geez, you sure got lucky there, bro," Chris remarked, rolling her eyes at her elder sibling. "If it weren't for her mood swings, you would have ended up about a foot shorter."

The Eco-infused elf opened his mouth for a retort just as the entrance swung open again, and a doctor that appeared to be in her mid-thirties strolled inside, offering the three Mars and Keira a warm grin.

"Are you ready for the ultrasound, Miss Hagai?" she asked politely, showing no surprise to find said she-elf currently locked in an embrace with her world-saving boyfriend.

"Yes," Keira answered immediately, her voice much more confident now that Jak had arrived.

Beaming at her patient, the doctor told Keira to lie down on the gurney again and then moved to prepare the machinery beside it. Keira happily obliged, her gaze following Jak as he grabbed the last spare chair from its place against the wall and dropped it next to her, taking a seat and twining his fingers through hers.

All eyes turned to the doctor as she extracted a scanner-like object from the jumble of wires and then gently lifted the lower half of Keira's shirt with her free hand. A shiver rolled down Keira's spine as the elder woman spread some sort of gel on her exposed abdomen, and then flipped on the monitor of the confusing mechanism and roved the scanner over the young she-elf's pale skin.

Several seconds of anticipatory silence passed, and then an image materialized on the screen, causing an awed gasp to emit from the soon-to-be-parents.

"Is that…?" Keira whispered, staring at the shifting picture as if it were the most mesmerizing thing she'd ever seen.

"That's your baby, yes," the doctor informed her, smiling as both Jak and Keira's faces lit up.

"It looks kind of… squishy," Aleighna observed bluntly, tilting her head to the side to try to discern the shape of her brother's child more easily.

"Hey, I think it's got your head, Jak!" Chris added, noting the relative odd shape of the baby's skull, seeing as how it hadn't fully developed yet.

Jak shot both his sisters a warning glare, and then returned his focus to his unborn son or daughter, his expression radiating affection.

"He's beautiful, Keira," he murmured, pressing a tender kiss to Keira's forehead.

"You mean _she's_ beautiful," Keira corrected, grinning teasingly at him. "I say it's a girl."

"I second that motion!" Aleighna piped up, earning an elbow in the ribs from her twin.

Before anyone had the chance to continue on the subject, the doctor removed the device from Keira's stomach and wiped the gel off her flesh. She then switched off the monitor and Keira swung her legs over the side of the gurney, dropping back down to the ground.

"Well, everything seems a-ok in there," the doctor announced, beaming at the little group of friends and family. "I'll have the photos processed for you to take home, and then you're free to go."

"Thank you," Jak and Keira replied simultaneously, the latter already situating herself into the circle of the former's arms as the doctor stepped out into the hall once more.

Once the couple had received their images from the ultrasound, they and their younger companions emerged out into the corridor, glancing first one way, and then the other.

"Uh… anyone remember how to get out of here?" Jak asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he studied the blindingly white walls boxing them in.

"No clue," Chris replied, shrugging.

"Ditto," Aleighna agreed, desperately wracking her brains to try and uncover which way led back to the waiting room.

"Why don't you go ask someone?" Keira suggested, nudging Jak in the direction of a man dressed in a lab coat.

Nodding once, Jak towed Keira over to the person they hoped was someone who worked in the hospital, Chris and Aleighna a step behind.

Only when they were about two feet from the oddly short man did Jak notice there was something eerily familiar about him… Something about the log tied into his white hair and the green undertone of his complexion that reminded him of…

"Samos!" Jak gasped, horror crashing over him and sending all of his thought process into a train wreck, where they promptly exploded in a fiery inferno. Glancing around himself frantically, he shoved Keira through the first open door he saw, knowing that if Samos saw his daughter in her current state, he'd be a dead man.

"Huh?" the Green Sage spun around upon hearing his name, and his eyes widened with surprise when he spotted Jak standing before him, looking about ready to have a full-blown panic attack, and the blonde-haired elf's sisters behind him, both of them struggling to keep from roaring with laughter at their sibling's situation. "Jak? Girls? What are you three doing here?"

"Um — I, er — well, it's a funny story, actually —" Jak stuttered, his mind refusing to process a believable excuse as to why he'd be at the hospital, especially considering that it was near-impossible for him to be injured to begin with.

"Jak sprained his ankle at his dance class," Aleighna lied smoothly, cutting off her brother's pathetic babbling. She and Chris moved to either side of the horrified elf, Chris kicking him discreetly in the ankle as they did so.

"OW!" Jak yelled indignantly, clutching his bruised foot and glaring at the cerulean-eyed twin.

Samos arched a wispy eyebrow at the trio, but let it slide, probably deciding that whatever it was they were really up to, he didn't want to know.

"How come you're here, anyway, Samos?" Jak inquired, curious despite the throbbing pain in his ankle.

"I work here part-time," Samos answered, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "As it turns out, Green Eco is very useful in modern medicine."

"That's all fine and dandy, but we were just leaving, and we weren't sure how to get back to the main entrance," Chris cut in, wanting to escape the elderly Sage's scrutinizing gaze before Jak had a stroke.

"Sure, just take a left at the next hall, then a right, another right, a left, go through the double doors, take two rights, a left, and then the waiting room will be on your right," Samos responded easily, staring at the three Mars as if he were surprised they didn't know that already.

"Er… right…" Aleighna muttered, exchanging baffled looks with her siblings. "We'll just see you later then, Old Greenie."

The Sage-in-question huffed at the use of one of Daxter's nicknames for him, and then he merely thumped away, disappearing around the corner at the end of the corridor.

Keira emerged from the room Jak had pushed her into a second later, her hand pressed gingerly to the back of her head as if she'd hit it on something.

"I tripped and ran into a bed frame, so I hope you're happy, mister," she snapped at her boyfriend, her mouth twisted downwards in a scowl.

"Sorry, but if Samos had seen you, then you'd have to explain to our kid that his father was murdered by his grandfather," Jak explained, inhaling deeply to steady his rattled composure.

Shaking her head sadly, Keira wordlessly linked her arm through Jak's, and then the two of them began the wearisome trek through the maze of hallways, Aleighna and Chris following close behind.

The quartet arrived back at their apartment about half an hour later, their feet aching from traversing the confusing mess that was considered a hospital. Jak and Keira had only just killed the engines of their zoomers, however, when a highly familiar voice called out to them.

"Well, we were wondering when you four were going to show up!"


	2. Uncle and Aunt

FES: I'm back! You hear that clapping? That was for me.

**Jak: That's why they stopped. **

**JKA: Jak, you know you cool?**

**Jak: I knew it! *Walks away joyfully.***

**FES: Does he know it means, Constipated Over weighted, Out of style Loose?**

**JKA: Sh! The idiot doesn't know I put a "I'm cool" sign and is walking around campus. **

The twins smiled at each other and ran out the zoomer where two elves stood. It was hard to run in the snow but they made it. "Uncle Collin and Aunt Kelly!" Said the twins, as they hugged their family.

Their Uncle Collin looked a lot like Damas, for he had green hair and violet/blue eyes. He was the only uncle the Mar siblings had, they use to come every year. But the last time they saw him, the Mars' parents were alive and well. Next to him none other but Aunt Kelly.

As the twins hugged their aunt, Uncle Collin noticed that 1) Jak was missing and 2) Jak was missing. He looked back at the girls with concern. "Girls, where is your brother? I remember my sister-in-law giving birth!" He said in frustration. Aunt Kelly looked at her husband.

"Collin, how do you remember?" She asked threw the shivering of her teeth.

"I remember Sapphira screaming, 'Get his head out!'" Said the married brother. He looked around. The twins sneaked into the Flower Plaza lobby, only to be welcomed with the fat stomach of Mr. Davis.

"Up to more trouble?" He asked in his deep voice. The twins eye widened as they recognized the evil voice.

"What? When did we EVER cause trouble?" Aleighna asked while putting her right hand over her heart. Mr. Davis rolled his eyes.

"You girls broke a vase, door, painting, desk, fish tank and even a football!" Mr. Davis recalled.

"Know it all!" Chris muttered and received a punch on her shoulder. Mr. Davis turned around and heading back into the heated building. Uncle Collin came closer to them and the twins tried to get in the door but forgot that they needed the key.

"Where's the key?" They both said at the same time as they shrugged.

"In there!" They both said again and pointed at the apartment room.

"Smooth move." They said putting his hands on his hips. There pressed the button that said 'Mar family' in Jak's handwriting. They waited until Jak's panting voice came on. "Hey dude, we got locked out." Aleighna said. Than, the buzzer came on and the door slide open. The twins lead their uncle and aunt up the stairs until a girl of about sixteen of age came out and made the girls yelp.

"So, going up to your room Mars? My sister said to tell you to tell your brother ..." Said the girl.

"Annie! It took shorter time to win the war than for you to finish!" Said Aleighna and walked back up with her sister following behind.

As they arrived at the white door that read '804' in gold. They opened the door and as soon as they saw Jak and Keira making out, they closed the door. Aleighna gave her the 'What-happen-now' look and Chris pointed to the door. "They broke rule number 2." She said.

"From which rule list?" Asked Aleighna.

"Yours." Chris said in a loud whisper. Aleighna walked in and threw a pillow at them. When Jak turned around to look at his younger pain, Aleighna pointed outside and Jak pushed Keira into his room. Aleighna called Chris to come in and their Aunt and Uncle followed behind with their arms open. Their uncle hugged Jak but Jak didn't return because he saw the green eyes of Keira. As if faith had it's bad eye on Jak, Keira had another wave of mood swings. She ran out and pushed Jak.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Keira yelled at the older brother. "What do you think I am? Your plaything? I can't believe you!" Keira slapped Jak as hard as she could. Jak's bangs got caught on his eye lashes but then Keira grabbed him checks and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Jak hands roomed under Keira's shirt.

Uncle Collin looked at the twins who were perfectly fine with the whole make out scene. "Aren't you grossed out?" Said Uncle Collin. The twins looked at him and at their brother.

"No, as long as they don't brake rule 1, Keira can kiss him more than in the Notebook." Said Chris. She turned back to the magazine. Aleighna read her magazine that read 'OC Family'. Chris' was 'Gossip'. She turned the page to an article. As she read it, her eyes widen until she shoot up. "Oh my God!" She screamed. Aleighna looked at it and her sage green eyes widen.

"Daxter told everyone in Haven!" She yelled.

"About the pregnancy!" Chris yelled. Uncle Collin and Aunt Kelly eye widen. Aleighna read more and giggled. She turned the magazine toward Chris and then she laughed. It was an article about Ashelin Praxis, 'Real or Fake? Is Ashelin's boob real? Jak Mar sisters, Chris and Aleighna Mar, reveal all.'

"YOU GOT HER PREGNANT BEFORE MARRIAGE?" Scream their uncle. Jak shook his head.

"It was an accident!" Jak yelled in frustration.

"Wait until he finds out he got her pregnant at," Aleighna said.

"Our back to school night no less." Said Chris. Uncle Collin turned toward Jak.

"Jak Avan Mar! You are grounded." Uncle Collin said.

"I'm 20, you can't ground me. Dad would have ..." Jak was cut off by his uncle.

"I don't care what that bastard have taught you! Your just like him, getting a girl pregnant before marriage! Who does that? I know who, his name is Jak, a soulless bastard who thinks of himself." Uncle Collin yelled. He looked into his nephew's eyes, the same ones he use to tell stories to. His eyes now glaciered with tears. One of those tears fell down his cheeks. Jak pushed his uncle

and ran outside. Aleighna and Chris looked at each other than their uncle. Collin buried his face in his hands.

"Um, Keira, right?" Asked Kelly. Keira nodded. "I'm sorry you had to see that. You didn't think Jak was such a softy, did you?"

"No. But his sisters aren't a hint." Keira said turning her attention to her sister-not-in-laws who were laughing as Justin Fox fell off a table, bumped into a glass window and door, fall off stage and broke his foot and got hit with a T-shirt.

"Jak use to cry on How The Grinch stole Christmas. The girl didn't even shed a tear on Christmas Jars or Titanic." Said Kelly. "I don't know how Jak came out so ... odd." They looked at Collin who was crying at How The Grinch Stole Christmas. The twins shook their heads. The door flew open and a fat figure stood their.

"Where's the boy?"

**JKA: Ooh! Who is that at we hear? Jak maybe shall shed one more tear!**

**FES: That's the best you got? I want a sandwich. :P**

**JKA: *looks at FES* Where did that come from?**

**FES: JKA, don't make me beg, all I want, is some chariso and egg.**

**Jak: *crying while watching the movie* No Mr. Grinch, don't steal Christmas. **

**FES: *Turns to JKA* Are you sure we are related to ... well ... that?**

Pleas review


	3. Breaking Memoies

**FES: Ah, the most funniest part of the story. **

**Jak: What's that? **

**FES: You getting your ass kicked. **

**Jak: *Chase FES* GET BACK HERE!**

**JKA: Um, you enjoy this chapter while I go get those two quietly. *Runs* I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! **

Aleighna and Chris took one look at the figure in the doorway, and then they dove behind the couch, knowing immediately from the expression on his face that someone was going to be murdered.

"I _said_, where is he?" Samos repeated, his forest green eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. Neither Keira nor the twins — who were still using the sofa as a shield — had to ask to know exactly who the ancient Sage was talking about.

They just hoped for Jak's sake that he'd had enough sense to run as far from the apartment as he could, and that he wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

"Who, Jak?" Uncle Collin asked, obviously a step behind where the three youngest she-elves in the room already were. "He just took off after I told him off for knocking up Keira over here."

Samos shifted his burning glare to his horrified daughter, his thin fingers tightening noticeably on his staff when he spotted her baby bump.

"Poor Jak, the world hardly knew ye," Aleighna muttered, knowing without a doubt that as soon as her brother got within twenty feet of the short, green man, he'd be dead before he had time to realize there was a giant piece of wood flying towards his head.

"Should we start planning his funeral now?" Chris inquired under her breath, earning a grim nod from her sister.

"Yes, Jak," Samos answered Collin's question flippantly, his scorching gaze never straying from his daughter's protruding abdomen. "I need to have a bit of a word with him."

"Daddy, it wasn't his fault," Keira ventured hesitantly, hoping to soothe her father's temper before he exploded. "It was a mistake."

"Yeah, no kidding," Collin scoffed, running a hand through his dark green hair. "I don't know of anyone who _wouldn't_ consider getting drunk and doing it at their younger siblings' back-to-school night a mistake."

"Collin!" Aunt Kelly hissed, noting that Samos' face had just flushed about ten shades of red, pure fury etched into his wise features. Keira instinctively backed away from her father, her hands resting protectively over her stomach.

Behind the couch, Chris and Aleighna exchanged dismayed glances.

"Jak is so screwed," they sighed in unison, both secretly planning out which of their brother's possessions they would get after Samos killed him.

"You _what_?" Samos bellowed, causing everyone in the room to jump about five feet in the air.

At that precise moment, Jak strode calmly through the front door, having cooled off after his argument with Uncle Collin. His eyes immediately landed on the brick-red visage of Samos, and he froze mid-step, the phrase _if looks could kill_ flashing through his mind.

"Shit," he muttered, spinning on his heel and attempting to make a break for it while all his bones were still intact.

"Get. Back. Here," the Green Sage growled menacingly, ignoring Keira's quiet protest behind him.

Even Jak knew better than to argue with Samos when he was angry. His shoulders sagging in defeat, Jak retraced his steps and found himself face-to-face with a furious, white-haired elf.

"Do you have _any_ idea what you've done, Jak?" Samos hissed; any lesser man would have high-tailed it under the heated scowl Jak was receiving, but the dark warrior had been in one-too-many life-threatening situations to back down when facing Keira's father.

"Of course I do," Jak replied, his tone quiet and filled to the brim with regret. "Do you think I _wanted_ this to happen?"

"No, but it _has_ happened," Samos snapped, jabbing Jak in the chest with the end of his staff. "My daughter is _pregnant_, and you two aren't even married! Precursors, you're barely even legal adults! Your parents raised you better than that, Jak."

The mention of his mother and father brought a spark of rage to Jak's cerulean eyes, and he glowered down at the elderly Sage. "I know how my parents raised me, alright? Yes, they would be disappointed in me, but they're not here, now are they?"

"Ooh, this is getting good," Chris whispered to Aleighna, who nodded vigorously in agreement. The two sisters had moved from hiding behind the sofa to sitting on it, sharing a bag of popcorn between them.

"What the — where did you get that?" Keira questioned them, her eyebrows rising as she stared at the kernel-filled bag.

"What you don't know, won't hurt us," Aleighna answered mysteriously, shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth as she and Chris watched the unfolding argument with rapt attention.

"They may not be here, but that doesn't give you the right to be so irresponsible!" Samos chided the blonde-haired elf opposite him, both completely oblivious to their audience.

"How the hell am I irresponsible?" Jak demanded, crossing his arms over his chest and fixing the much older man with a glare that had made many-a-foe soil themselves in terror. "I've spent half my life raising my sisters _on my own_, not to mention saving the god-damn _world_, and you think you've got the right to call me irresponsible?"

"Raising your sisters," Samos snorted scathingly, rolling his eyes. "You haven't raised those two! They behave as if they don't know the first meaning of the word 'manners'!"

"_Hey_!" both Chris and Aleighna objected indignantly, scowling at the Green Sage.

Their protests went unnoticed, as everyone was still absorbed in the two quarrelling elves.

"Oh, and like _you_ could do any better!" Jak snarled, his ocean-blue irises flickering black for the briefest instant.

"As a matter of fact, I could!" Samos yelled, holding his staff in a death-grip as if he were seriously contemplating using it as a weapon. "And if you can't handle those two, then how do you expect me to believe you'll be able to take care of my grandchild?"

"So my unborn baby is 'your grandchild' now, is he?" Jak scoffed, his fingers curling into fists beneath his still-folded arms. "A minute ago you were scolding me for getting Keira pregnant in the first place, and now you're worried about the kid's safety?"

"Of course I am!" Samos' gaze had cooled from its original fiery appearance, and was now as cold and hard as ice. "You know how unstable you can be at times, Jak. How can I trust you with my grandchild if you can hardly be trusted around adults?"

"You think I would hurt my own kid?" Jak hissed, his voice dangerously low and the beginnings of a feral growl rumbling in his throat. "You obviously don't know me as well as you think you do, Samos. My son or daughter would be a thousand times better off with me to look after them than some Precursor-loving, know-it-all arse like you."

A muffled "Oooooh" rose up from the twins, while Uncle Collin and Aunt Kelly exchanged shocked glances. Keira's hand flew to her mouth in pure disbelief, not just from what Jak had said but from her father's words as well.

For a moment, silence reigned over the little group, the tension so thick that you could cut it with a knife. And then, without warning, Samos grabbed his staff in both hands and swung it at Jak's head. Only the Eco-infused elf's unnatural reflexes saved him from getting his skull cracked.

As soon as Jak regained his balance, a primeval snarl ripped from his chest, and Dark Eco began crackling over his skin. He threw his arms out as his flesh began paling, accidentally knocking the bag of popcorn from out of Chris' hands in the process.

"No!" Aleighna cried despairingly, diving skillfully around her enraged brother and attempting to save the scattered popcorn.

"It's ok, Aleighna, we don't need to —" Chris began to soothe her sister, and then she remembered that had been their last bag of popcorn, and she scowled. "Jak Avan Mar! I'm going to kill you if Samos doesn't!"

Her older brother chose to ignore her, as he was halfway through his Dark transformation. His bottomless midnight eyes locked with Samos' as the ancient Sage braced himself, staff at the ready.

Just as razor-sharp claws were beginning to grow from Jak's fingers, however, Keira stepped in front of him.

"_Enough_!" she screeched, her hands on her hips and her emerald irises glittering with anger. "Both of you are behaving like idiots!"

She threw a heated glower in her father's direction, and then returned her attention to Jak. Abruptly, her murderous expression faded, and she sighed, placing a gentle hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. They gazed wordlessly into each other's eyes, Jak's body heaving with every rage-fueled breath he took.

Finally, the dark warrior's battle-ready stance relaxed, and he dipped his head shamefully, color bleaching back into his skin and his pupils shrinking to reveal his cerulean orbs once more.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, meeting Keira's gaze and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

"Well I'm not," Samos grumbled stubbornly, earning another glare from his daughter.

"Just drop it, Daddy," she warned, turning so that her back was to Jak and leaning into him. "What's done is done, and Jak and I are going to be parents whether you like it or not."

Samos looked as if he were about to argue, and then he seemed to decide he didn't want to quarrel with the teal-haired she-elf as well as her boyfriend, and surrendered grudgingly.

"Wow…" Aunt Kelly gasped, obviously stunned with this turn of events. The group of Mars and Hagais glanced at her and Uncle Collin in surprise, having forgotten their presence in the midst of the fight. "I never thought I'd see the day when those two hot-headed morons got their asses kicked by a woman."

"That's Keira for you," Chris laughed, grinning at the young mechanic. "Her temper could give even Jak over here a run for his money if you push her too far."

"The whole mood swing thing sure doesn't help with her friendliness factor either…" Aleighna muttered, shuddering as she remembered Keira's explosion earlier that morning.

"I heard that," Keira snapped irritably, causing Aleighna to cower behind her twin.

"Just kidding, Keir!" the brunette girl stammered quickly, her shoulders sagging in relief when her pregnant friend's attitude shifted again and she smiled.

"This isn't over, you two," Samos threatened, pointing his stubby finger in Jak and Keira's general direction.

Before anyone had a chance to respond to that comment, however, a new, extremely deep voice rang out from the front doorway.

"Hey, Cherries!" Sig called as he strode into the room, his Peacemaker slung faithfully across his back and a broad grin dominating his scarred features.

"Sig!" Jak, Chris, and Aleighna all cried in unison, the two younger siblings rushing over to embrace their old family friend.

"What are you doing here?" Chris asked excitedly, pulling away from the burly wastelander so she could bump fists with him.

"Jak invited us over to help snaz up that sad-lookin' tree over there," Sig explained cheerfully, gesturing to the bare Christmas tree standing beside the couch.

"Us?" Aleighna repeated, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "Who's 'us'?"

"The life of the party has arrived!" an all-too-familiar voice announced, and a moment later none other than Ashelin Praxis sauntered into the room, dragging a disgruntled Torn behind her.

Both Chris and Aleighna let out horrified screams and dropped to their knees, throwing their hands up in the air.

"Why, Santa, why?" Aleighna wailed, burying her face in her hands.

"We've been good this year!" Chris added miserably, knotting her fingers in her golden hair. "What did we do to deserve this?"

"What's their problem?" Uncle Collin asked Jak curiously, glancing from the dejected twins to the tattooed redhead and back again.

"Long story," Jak sighed, earning a giggle from Keira and a scowl from Ashelin.

"So, Brainiac, I heard the news," Sig commented happily, oblivious to the distressed duo at his feet. He beamed enthusiastically at Keira, unaware of Jak drawing his finger across his throat frantically behind her in an effort to make the large man stop talking. "Pregnant, huh? Well, way to go —"

He broke off when he noticed the dangerous glare Samos was sending his way, and he immediately realized what must have happened before he arrived.

"I mean, you two shoulda known better," Sig amended quickly, having no more desire to elicit Samos' wrath than the others.

"Nice save," Torn grunted, standing off to one side with his arms folded over his chest like the typical anti-socialist he was.

"So, what do you say we get started on this tree, then?" Aunt Kelly suggested, tired of the tense atmosphere. Everyone instantly relaxed at the suggestion, and they all moved over to where several boxes were stacked beside the Christmas tree, each one containing ornaments. Jak, Sig, Collin, Kelly, and the twins all grabbed one and spread them out along the floor, tearing them open and grabbing the first ornament they saw.

Soon, everyone was pitching in to help spruce up the tree, even Samos, who had apparently dropped his sour attitude for the time being. Within minutes, the tree was glittering with the reflections of multi-colored blubs and other sentimental figurines, sweetening the very air with an overall sense of merriment.

"Hey, Ashelin, doesn't it burn?" Chris called to the ex-KG as the latter adjusted the gold sphere she was currently placing on a branch.

"Does what burn?" Ashelin inquired, arching one delicate eyebrow at the younger she-elf.

"Touching all the decorations," Aleighna answered for her sister, the two of them on the same wavelength as ever. "After all, the devil only comes out on Halloween, not Christmas."

"Knock it off, both of you," Jak chided them, giving them both a playful shove on the shoulder. "Where's your holiday spirit?"

"Up at the North Pole, asking Santa to recruit Ashelin as one of his elves," Chris replied easily, high-fiving her twin cheekily.

Rolling his eyes, Jak returned his attention to the boxes of ornaments, digging around for a moment. Something within the confines of one container caught his attention, and he picked it up curiously, chuckling when he realized what is was.

"What's so funny?" Keira asked, coming up to his side and examining the bone-shaped trinket in his hand.

"This was the ornament we got for our crocadog the first Christmas we had him," Jak explained, staring at the tiny picture of a half-canine, half-reptile creature enclosed in the ornament.

"We had a crocadog?" Aleighna repeated incredulously, both her and Chris racing over to study the image for themselves.

"For a little while," Jak confirmed, smirking at some memory. "That is, until there was a bit of an accident with this guy on a zoomer, and —"

"On second thought, I don't want to know," Aleighna snorted, skipping away to go hang the ornament she held on the tree.

Laughing to himself, Jak hooked the bone-shaped trinket on one of the front-most branches.

A few hours later, the gang of friends, family, and petty enemies were all lounging in the living room, admiring the fully-decorated tree. Jak was lying across the couch, Keira in front of him and his hands resting protectively on her baby bump. Ashelin and Torn were sharing the solitary recliner adjacent from the couch, both looking bored now that they had nothing to do. Kelly and Collin had stepped out for a little while, saying they had some Christmas shopping they needed to finish up. Samos appeared to be meditating in the corner, and Sig was leaning up against the wall, shining his Peacemaker as a force of habit.

Aleighna and Chris, surprisingly, were nowhere to be found.

"Hey, I just realized, where's the little chili pepper and his nutty sweetheart?" Sig asked, drawing attention for the first time to the fact that Daxter and Tess were not there.

"Ah, Dax said they still needed to finish 'decorating' their bedroom at home," Jak answered, looking slightly repulsed.

A beat of silence passed between the group as everyone tried to absorb the Eco-infused elf's words.

"… How is that even possible?" Torn inquired, and then he waved his hand dismissively, scrunching up his nose as if he'd smelled something foul. "On second thought, I don't want to know."

At that precise moment, Aleighna and Chris strolled into the room, the latter concealing something behind her back and both grinning innocently.

"Alright, who did you two kill?" Keira questioned them, knowing from experience that any time they pulled expressions like that, they'd usually done something wrong.

"Nobody," Aleighna sang as she and Chris walked calmly towards the tree.

"We just found a little something that we think Jak might like," Chris added cheerfully, pausing beside the sparkling pine and revealing what she'd been hiding from view.

Jak gasped and straightened up, minding his movements so as not to jostle Keira too much. His eyes zeroed in on the object in his sister's hand, and a slow smile broke its way across his face.

"Where did you find that?" he demanded excitedly as Aleighna vanished into the kitchen, reappearing a few minutes later dragging a ladder behind her.

"In some of Mom and Dad's old things," Chris explained, a wave of warmth washing over her as her brother inspected the elegant angel with bright cerulean eyes. As much as their reputations would disagree, the two youngest Mars actually did enjoy making people happy every now and again.

"What is it?" Keira asked inquisitively, her gaze glued to the delicate object as Aleighna locked the ladder in place and Chris stepped onto it.

"It's the old angel that our parents used to put on top of the tree every year," Jak replied quietly, memories of Christmases past playing in his mind like a slideshow. A pang of grief jabbed at his heart when he pictured his parents, and he unconsciously pulled Keira closer to him, seeking comfort in the warmth of her body.

As Chris ascended the ladder, angel held securely in one hand, a sudden trickle of dread rolled down Jak's spine, and he knew in that instant that something was about to go terribly wrong.

Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Aleighna leaned absentmindedly against the leg of the ladder. Unfortunately, she hadn't set it up as well as she'd thought she had, and it toppled over, sending Chris careening over the edge and landing right on top of her.

Time seemed to slow to a standstill as the angel flew out of Chris' grasp and crashed to the floor, its fragile body all-but-shattering upon impact.

Nobody spoke. All eyes turned to Jak as he stared, stunned, at the broken remains of one of his most precious reminders of his parents. He rose slowly from the couch — leaving Keira sitting numbly on the edge — and kneeled beside the angel, picking up one of its tiny wings between his fingers as tears began to prick at the corners of his eyes.

"…Jak?" Aleighna asked hesitantly, having disentangled herself from her sister and hauled herself to her feet. Both twins approached their brother uncertainly, guilt gnawing away at their stomachs.

"Go."

The word was nearly inaudible, and he hadn't moved an inch from his hunched position, and yet they were sure Jak had spoken.

"What?" Chris inquired, wondering if she had heard the blonde-haired elf correctly.

"I said… _go_," Jak repeated, lifting his head so that his gaze met his siblings'. They both flinched under the force of the anger and pain that swam in his rapidly darkening irises.

"W-what do you mean?" Aleighna stammered, stepping closer to Chris' side apprehensively.

"I mean, _get out of my sight_," Jak growled, standing so that he towered over them, his hands clenched into fists so tightly that his nails nearly drew blood. "Go to your room, go to the Naughty Ottsel, I don't care, just _leave me alone_!"

"Jak, we were just trying to —" Chris tried to apologize, but she was instantly cut off by the dark warrior in front of her.

"GET OUT!" Jak bellowed, Dark Eco sparking along his skin. "I WISH YOU TWO HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!"

Both Aleighna and Chris recoiled from their brother — their father figure — as if he'd shocked them, while everyone else present gasped. Tears pouring relentlessly down their cheeks, the twins shoved past their sibling and disappeared down the hallway. A second before their bedroom door slammed closed, two sobs drifted back out into the living room.

Silence followed the Mar sisters' departure, apart from Jak's heavy breaking and the occasional crackle of Dark Eco emanating from him.

Finally, Keira rose steadily to her feet and strode quietly over to Jak, pausing a foot away and staring straight into his scorching eyes.

"You monster," she whispered, brushing past him, her head bowed as she vanished the same way Aleighna and Chris had gone.

**FES and JKA: *writing letters to Santa* Dear Santa, For Christmas, we want Ashelin to disappear. **

**Ashelin: At least _I_ didn't break your brother's angel. **

**JKA: *Writes down* Anytime now! **


	4. Angels

**FES: Can we do something? **

**Keira: Sure! Let's talk about our feelings! FES, tell us how you feel!**

**FES: I feel like S.K.U.S.F.!**

**Everyone: What?**

**FES: Slapping. Keira. Until. She. Faints! **

**Keira: JKA? Want to give it a go? **

**JKA: I'd rather chew on bricks. **

**Keira: Good, now, George Lope-zes? Your turn**

**George Lopez: Alright. **

**FES and JKA: AHHHH! IT'S GEORGE LOPEZ! I-YOU- I AM BOW DOWN TO THE KING!**

**George Lopez: Well, Keira ...**

**Keira: How about we all draw how we feel.**

**FES, JKA and George Lopez: Draw how we feel, ¡Esta Loca! Draw how we feel!**

In the middle of the twin's room, Chris and Aleighna sat on their beds and sobbed. Out of the blue, a sweet muffled voice was heard.

"Girls?"

Aleighna looked up from her pillow with her face was redder than a tomato. "GO AWAY!" She yelled. Her voice was followed with a pillow thrown at the door from Chris. Then, there came an another voice that was lower then the other.

"Girls? Open the door. It's Auntie and Uncle." Said the voice that the twins took it for Aunt Kelly's. Chris got up and opened the door with her head dropped. She walked back to her bed and pulled her knees to her chest.

Kelly, Collin and Keira came in and looked at the girls in their sorrow. Keira and Collin walked over to Aleighna while Kelly walked to Chris. Keira tried to pulled Aleighna into and hug but Aleighna shook her head as more tears soaked her jeans. Collin pulled Aleighna into a hug and let her cry on his shoulder.

Kelly wrapped her arm around Chris to let her cry on Kelly's shirt instead of Chris's pants.

"W-we ... didn't ... mean ... mean to ... to break ... the angel." Sobbed Aleighna.

"We ... j-just ... wanted to ... to make ... make him ... h-happy." Cried Chris finally looking up. The three looked at each other.

"Hey, girls, be happy, it's Christmas Eve. Not your parent's anniversary." Collin said making the girl's cry more. Kelly looked at him.

"Collin, it is." Kelly reminded him.

"Shutting up." Collin said. Chris angrily wiped her tears making her eyelids red and itchy.

"I'm so stupid! I should have held on tied!" Chris scowled at herself hitting her head. Kelly stopped her.

"No, it's my fault, I should have made sure it was locked in right!" Aleighna blamed.

"It's non of your faults! Jak shouldn't had yelled at you. Period." Keira said. Keira sighed. Kelly smiled.

"Let's go and glue the angel back together." Kelly said. The twins also smiled.

"We'll be right back." They said in unison. They got up and walked quietly down the hall. Aleighna could hear the theme song to mission impossible but it was Chris.

"Knock it off!" Whispered Aleighna. Chris nodded and continued to sneak. When they got to the living room, Jak was yelled at Sig and Samos. Thankfully, Jak had his back faced to the tree. Chris walked and felt a sharp pain under her foot. She looked under and there was a piece of the angel.

"Ow." Chris whispered. Aleighna ignored her and looked at the crowd who were looking at them. Aleighna put her index finger next her lips signaling to be quiet. Ashelin smiled evilly.

"Jak, what's behind you?" Ashelin said. Jak turned around to see the tree behind him.

"A tree?" Jak said turning back around, behind him, the twins came out from the back of the tree. They grabbed the last of the angle - including the one under Chris' foot - and ran back in the room.

As soon as the girls came in, Chris sat down, pulled her bangs back, with the other under her cut. She closed her eyes as her birthmark shone. "Laeh." Chris said. The cut turned into a scratch.

After 9:30, everyone was sleeping. Collin and Kelly slept in the egg shell colored room as they snuggled together for warmth in the cold house.

Keira slept far away as possible from Jak, - even if he slept on the couch - even in her sleep, she was mad at the elf. Her hands were on top of her swollen stomach.

Jak's face was red from crying over the broken angel. Even if he blamed the twins, he knew it was his fault for not making sure it was stable for Chris.

Aleighna and Chris slept in their own beds with their hair tied up on braids. In their dreams, they saw the event happen over and over. Suddenly, the angel that was put together shined and out of nowhere, a beautiful glowing figure stood next to the nightstand between the beds. She walked over to Aleighna.

"You've grown so big." Said the figure in an angelic voice and smiled. Her green eyes looked at Aleighna as Aleighna turned to face her.

"I didn't mean to." Aleighna and Chris said in unison. The angel looked at the two with a puzzled look.

"Ookay." Said the angel. The angel picked up a baby angel that was set in front of Chris. The angel walked out and into Keira's room. The angel put her hand in Keira's stomach to take out a dead baby's ghost, only to replace it with the one in her arms. Keira's face twisted in pain as the new baby grew faster. The baby ghost disappeared. The angel wiped some hair off Keira's face as it twisted back to normal.

"I'm sorry Keira, but it was for you. Your baby died but now, I brought it back." The angel said. Keira woke up and nearly screamed but the angel closed her mouth. The angel smiled again. "Go to sleep, your baby is alive now." She said and Keira fell back to sleep.

The angel walked to the couch to see Jak sleeping. "Avan." She sang. Jak continued to sleep. "AVAN!" The angel demanded. Jak woke up and looked at the angel.

"Mom?" Jak asked. His heart pained more to see his mother with no scratches, perfectly healthy. The angel - known as Sapphira - smiled.

"Hello, Avan." Sapphira said. "Or should I say, Jak." Jak's cheeks grew red as the memory flashed in his brain of when his mom would call him Avan and he'd tell her to call him Jak.

"I-I like Avan. It reminds me of you. Speaking of you, what are you doing here?" Jak asked. Sapphira frowned.

"To grant your wish." She said. She slapped Jak behind his head. "Really, Avan? Wish your sisters were never born! Out of all these years I've spied on you -" Sapphira was cut off by her son.

"You've spied on me?" Jak said. Sapphira looked at him in his eyes now that he was standing.

"I've left you to take care of your twin sisters. Of course a mother gets worried! But don't change the subject Avan!" Sapphira said. "You also got a girl pregnant. I _was_ happy, I knew that you'd be a good father but you acted like an idiot, you didn't get a good doctor. The baby died, but your father forced me to give you another -" Sapphira was cut off by Jak's words.

"I'm the idiot? At least _I _didn't break your angel! The angel, the one you always made sure that the ladder was ... locked in properly." Jak said. He realized that he didn't make sure it was properly lock, so it was his fault.

"Jak, you'll be visited by three ghost starting at midnight." Sapphira said. Sapphira disappeared but before she did, she waved her hand and Jak passed out on the couch. Sapphira shook her head and disappeared.

**FES: I think Jak raised us right. *Takes twenty bucks from Jak's wallet***

**JKA: I know right! We are the perfect role models of good kids. *walks out with Keira's credit card in her pocket***

**FES: And we have plenty of manners. *Rubs painted hands on clothes***

JKA: Of course we do. Today, for example, I wiped off the milk carton on my shirt after I drank out of it so that I wouldn't spread germs.

**FES: I know. While you did that, I swiched very important piles of Jak with tick taks!**


	5. Past

**JKA: Now, we shall tell you ... mini stories. **

**FES: One day at school, we ran into hot twin boys ...**

**JKA: Hi cuties. Your first wish came true, you have two more. **

**FES: Hello. Your second wish has came true. **

**Jak: Hello. **

**One of the boy twins: Um, who are you? **

**Jak: If you talk to one of them, I'm your worst nightmare. **

**The other twin: Um, we were just asking a math question. **

**Jak: Thought so. **

Jak tossed and turned restlessly on the couch, his dreams plagued by images of the angel shattering over and over, and of his sisters' faces after he'd yelled at them. He had never seen them look so hurt, and the guilt he hadn't wanted to admit he was feeling was haunting him in the form of a daunting, consistent nightmare.

Unfortunately, sofas were not built for the large movements that Jak was making in his sleep, and with one particularly bad turn, he effectively dumped himself on the floor, his head smacking into the leg of the coffee table in the process.

The dark warrior groaned in pain, his less-than-graceful dismount having jolted him from unconsciousness. He dragged open his heavy eyelids and found his vision blocked by the underside of the table. A dull throbbing marred his sense of hearing, and it took him a moment to realize it was centering on the place where his skull had connected with wood.

"Ugh… my head…" he grumbled, rolling out from under the table and sitting up. He pressed his hand gingerly to where a bump was slowly forming on his head, and relaxed minutely when he confirmed that it was not bleeding.

Knowing he probably wouldn't be able to go back to sleep for a while, Jak hauled himself to his feet and stumbled groggily into the kitchen, running his fingers through his ruffled blonde/green hair. Pausing in front of the fridge, he yanked the door open and grabbed a carton of eggnog off the shelf. Yawning hugely, he unscrewed the cap and downed half the container in one gulp.

A low chime reached his sensitive ears from the other room, and he realized idly that the grandfather clock had just struck midnight.

_Wonderful_, he thought sarcastically as he took another swig from the carton in his hand. _The night's half over and I've only gotten two solid hours of sleep. I hope Santa brings me a gallon of black coffee in the morning, 'cause Precursors know I'll need it._

"Drinking out of the carton?" a deep, slightly gravelly voice scoffed from the doorway to the living room. "We never could manage to teach you manners…"

Whipping around to face whoever had spoken, Jak nearly dropped what was left of the eggnog as disbelief slammed into him with the force of running head-long into a brick wall.

"F-father?" he gasped, hardly daring to believe his eyes.

For indeed, none other than Damas Mar stood before him, looking just as he had in life. The powerful man's violet eyes held a teasing gleam as he watched his son fondly, his white hair that had once been green fashioned into its usual odd, pointed style.

"W-what are you doing here?" Jak stammered, placing the eggnog down on the counter before it slipped through his shaky fingers. "Or better yet, _how_ are you here?"

Damas sighed wearily, striding further into the kitchen and halting a few feet away from his stunned son.

"Didn't you listen to what your mother told you?" he scolded the dark warrior impatiently, folding his arms over his chest in a pose very reminiscent of Jak and quirking one graying eyebrow.

"What do you mean, what Mom —" Jak began to demand, and then he froze, memories from earlier that night flickering through his mind. He pictured the angel shattering on the floor; Keira gazing sadly at him, uttering those two words he'd never thought he'd hear from her: "You monster"; his mother, standing beside the couch… wait, his _mother_?

"Hold on…" he muttered, his head spinning as he tried to sort out the inner turmoil currently ravishing his thoughts. "So Mom talking to me _wasn't_ a dream, then?"

"Of course not," Damas laughed lightly, clapping Jak on the shoulder. "You may be smart, Jak, but you were never _that_ creative."

"_Thanks_, Dad," Jak snorted, rolling his eyes. He frowned up at his father, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "But what does Mom visiting me have to do with anything? And that still doesn't explain why _you're_ here."

"I think you hit your head a little too hard, there, son," Damas joked, poking the lump that had formed on Jak's temple and causing the latter to wince a bit. "Sapphira told you that you would be visited by three ghosts tonight, starting at midnight. There are things you must learn, Jak — things that only the spirits of the past can teach you."

"You always had a knack for speaking in riddles," Jak grumbled, and then he smiled up at the elder man. "So I'm guessing that means you're ghost number one, huh?"

"Correct," Damas agreed, nodding grimly.

"But what are you here for?" Jak pressed, still trying to wrap his head around the fact that not only had his mother apparently come back from the dead to speak to him, but now his father was here as well.

The burly elf sighed again, his cheerful expression sobering into a somber frown. "You're mother told you that your wish was being granted, yes?"

"My wish?" Jak repeated, feeling completely and utterly lost. "What wish?"

"For the love of Mar, Jak," Damas growled, gripping Jak's shoulders and looking him straight in the eye. "After your sisters broke the angel, you wished they had never been born — which was wildly out of line, I might add."

"I know, I know," Jak snapped, having already received a reprimanding from his late mother earlier and having no desire for another one. "They just crossed the line this time. That angel was one of the only things I had that reminded me of you."

"Be that as it may, accidents happen, Jak," Damas attempted to soothe him, and then a hint of disapproval flickered across his battle-hardened face. "And speaking of accidents, you are far too young to be starting a family, my son."

An exasperated groan escaped Jak's throat, and he scowled crossly. "Don't even start, Dad. I've already argued with Samos about it, I don't want to duke it out with you, too."

"I wasn't going to argue with you," Damas answered calmly, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I'm happy for you, and so is Sapphira. We both know you'll be an excellent father, and Keira a wonderful mother, we were just hoping you two would be a bit older before you decided to have children."

"It wasn't exactly a decision," the Eco-infused elf pointed out dryly.

Damas waved his hand dismissively. "It matters not, for I did not come here to debate whether what you did was right or wrong."

"Yeah, I get it; you're here to take away my younger pain-in-the-asses, right?" Jak asked, crossing his arms irritably so that he looked nearly identical to his father.

"In a sense," the white-haired elf replied, his mouth thinning into a grim line. "I am going to show you what you're life would be like without your sisters; or, more specifically, what your past would have been like."

"It probably would have been free of a lot of headache," Jak muttered under his breath, earning himself a whack over the back of the head from Damas.

"Oh, you couldn't be more wrong, my boy," the deceased warrior argued, shaking his head sadly. He extended a hand out to his son, gazing at him with wise, unreadable eyes. "Come with me."

Locking gazes with Damas warily, Jak reached out and placed his hand in the former's own.

The instant their skin touched, the strangest sensation overcame Jak's body — stranger even than when he transformed into his alter-egos. It sort of felt like he was being squeezed through a tube, ripped in half, run over by a desert buggy, and eaten by a Metal Head all at once.

Jak shut his eyes tightly as the uncomfortable feeling drove the air from his lungs, and as he fought vainly for breath, the panicked thought that he was suffocating flashing through his subconscious.

Almost as quickly as the sensation had begun, it vanished. Jak blinked open his eyes hesitantly, and at first he thought he may have died from lack of oxygen after all. Everything around him was dark and shadowed — even his sharp vision was having trouble making out shapes.

Then he realized that he could feel a biting chill on the wind, and could hear what sounded like fighting in the distance, so he must have still been alive.

"What is this place?" Jak inquired softly, beginning to distinguish the silhouettes of what appeared to be abandoned homes through the gloom.

"Haven City… six years ago," Damas murmured, releasing his son's hand and striding down the wide, snow-covered street they stood on.

"Six years…" Jak repeated almost inaudibly, immediately knowing the significance of that time span. Damas _had_ said they'd be going to the past, after all; he just wished they'd picked a different date.

"Yes," Damas agreed quietly as Jak caught up with him. "I've brought you here… to show you what would have happened if your sisters hadn't been around the day…"

The powerful man's voice trailed away sorrowfully, and Jak's gaze slid to the icy ground beneath them.

"The day you died," he finished in a whisper, earning a grim nod from Damas.

The two lapsed into silence as Jak followed his father through what appeared to be a neighborhood, although it was hard to believe anyone had ever lived there as all the residences were deserted now.

What really unnerved the younger of the duo, however, were the obvious signs of carnage that littered the road. Doors hung ajar on front entryways, torn from their hinges; shards of glass were scattered beneath the remains of broken windows; the pure whiteness of the snow was marred by dark crimson splatters, accompanied by deep, uneven trails as if someone had been dragged.

"It looks exactly the way I remember," Jak mused sadly, a hollow grief that he hadn't experienced in years beginning to prick at his heart.

Damas didn't reply, instead leading Jak around a bend in the path and coming to an abrupt halt.

"Then I'm sure you'll remember this quite well," he stated flatly, gesturing vaguely to the scene before them.

The remorse that had begun to sting in his chest expanded immensely as Jak studied the chaos around him. Every home along this street was being assaulted with gunshots, bombs, and the like, most of them covered in roaring flames. Metal Heads of every size and form imaginable dashed to and fro, clearly the ones that were the cause of all the mayhem. Innocent civilians fled in every direction from the monsters, screaming in pure terror.

_No…_ Jak thought to himself, watching the Metal Heads rip one unlucky soul to shreds in horror. _This can't happen, not again…_

Without thinking, the blonde-haired hero began to sprint towards the nearest enemy creature, intent on tearing it apart with his bare hands.

"Jak, stop!" Damas ordered, catching up to his son in three broad strides and gripping his shoulders to hold him back. "You cannot help them. As far as they are concerned, we are not even here."

Almost as soon as Damas finished speaking, a man who looked like he was about to soil himself with fear sprinted straight through Jak, a Metal Head right on his heels.

"I see what you mean…" Jak muttered, staring after the retreating elf and his pursuer with wide eyes.

"Come," the late warrior barked, heading farther down the road and waving for Jak to follow. After a moment's hesitation, Jak obliged, letting his eyelids fall closed in an attempt to drown out the uproar that only seemed to be escalating around him.

As they walked, Damas took no notice of the people and creatures in his path, allowing them to pass through him as if he were mere smoke. Jak, on the other hand, would have made an effort to sidestep anyone in his way if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't actually paying attention to where he was going.

Finally, Damas stopped in front of one house that seemed to be particularly crawling with Metal Heads, its rooftop dancing with fire and the unmistakable sounds of intense fighting emanating from within.

"Look, son," he said quietly, laying a hand on Jak's arm to stop him from passing the ravaged structure by.

Following the line of his father's gaze, Jak's heart nearly shattered when he spotted the under-attack building, unshed tears beginning to brim beneath his cerulean irises.

"Home…" he breathed, blinking stubbornly to hold back his emotions as they threatened to overwhelm him.

Before Damas had the chance to speak, several gunshots echoed from inside the residence, and a solitary tear escaped Jak's efforts to subdue them, trickling its way down his cheek as memories from this very night flickered in front of his mind's eye.

"Be strong, Jak," Damas murmured, his gruff voice uncharacteristically tender. "There is something you must see."

Nodding once, Jak followed his father up to the caved-in front door of the place he'd grown up, biting his lip to suppress the moisture that continued to try and break loose. The two warriors stepped inside the house, and were instantly greeted by a horde of Metal Heads, half of them fleeing in terror — and racing right through Jak and Damas in the process — while the others all converged onto what Jak remembered had been the living room. The sounds of gunfire seemed to be concentrated in that area, along with the frightened screams of a woman.

"Mother!" Jak yelled, skidding around a corner in the main hallway and sprinting into aforementioned room. His heart dropped into his stomach at the sight that greeted him, his knees threatening to give way beneath him.

In the center of the space stood the living version of Damas, morph-gun in hand and battling for all he was worth. Metal Heads surrounded him on all sides, ducking in to take a swipe at him and retreating while his focus was on one of their comrades.

Pressed into one corner was the slim figure of Sapphira, her blonde hair disheveled and her sage green eyes alight with panic. Her arms were spread out wide, shielding someone cowering behind her.

Jak blinked in shock when he realized the person his mother was protecting was, in fact, a fourteen-year-old version of himself. His younger counterpart's face was twisted in pure horror as he watched his parents fight for their lives not feet away from him.

"Hold on, why am I here?" Jak asked the spirit form of Damas, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he studied his time twin. "I don't remember being in the house when you and mom were fighting…"

"Correct," Damas answered with a sorrowful nod, his gaze also glued to the gut-wrenching scene. "And that is because your mother sent you away before the Metal Heads broke through our defenses, in order to get your sisters to safety. But in this timeline, your sisters don't exist, so you saw no reason to abandon us, and therefore you stayed."

"I don't see how that's a bad thing," the Eco-infused elf mused, wincing when a Metal Head inflicted a particularly brutal blow on flesh-and-blood Damas and wishing he weren't so utterly helpless.

Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, another attacking monster leapt at Damas from behind, clinging onto his back and slitting his throat with its gruesome claws. It hopped off the injured man just as quickly, and Damas slumped to the ground, his weapon falling from his limp fingers and sliding across the floor.

"_Dad_!" both past and present-day Jak cried, the latter reaching out toward the fallen warrior as if he wanted to assist him, and then he remembered that this had happened years ago, and let his hand drop.

"Damas!" Sapphira screamed, tears pouring from her beautiful eyes and streaming down her pale skin.

As if her outburst were a cue, every Metal Head in the room whipped around to face mother and son, their glowing, soulless stares trained on them as if they were dying to tear them apart, piece by piece.

Abruptly, all signs of sorrow were completely wiped clean from Sapphira's expression. She stood tall and determined, her arms still blocking the enemy creatures' access to her son as she waited for what she knew would be her demise.

"Avan," she whispered, calling Jak by his middle name as he had always insisted she didn't. "No matter what happens to me now, I want you to run as far away from here as you can, and don't look back. Do you understand me?"

"But —" younger Jak tried to protest, but the golden-haired she-elf cut him off.

"Do as I say, son," she instructed, glancing at the boy over her shoulder. "Promise me you'll make it out of here alive, and you'll stay strong for your father and I."

Teenage Jak still looked as if he wanted to argue, but he nodded nonetheless, his ocean-blue irises swimming with tears.

"Good. I love you, Jak," Sapphira breathed, causing her son's jaw to drop when he realized she had just addressed him by his first name.

At that precise moment, it seemed the Metal Heads decided they were tired of listening to their prey ramble in a language they could not understand, and charged at the brave woman, burying her under a mass of indigo bodies and flashing claws.

Young Jak pressed himself against the wall fearfully, and his older counterpart felt his heart crumble to dust as he watched his mother fall in the same way as his father. When his parents had been killed in the real-world timeline, he had been out of harm's way, in charge of protecting his sisters, so he hadn't actually seen the Metal Heads murder them. Witnessing it now was like having a bullet driven straight into his chest.

When the monsters finally backed away from Sapphira, the once-pretty she-elf was hardly recognizable. Her skin was covered in gashes, and her clothes were stained with her own blood as she lay unmoving on the cold floor.

"Mom…" teenage Jak whimpered, his cheeks glistening with tear tracks as he tried to make himself as small as possible in the corner.

The sound of his voice alerted the Metal Heads, who all turned their attention to him in the same instant, staring at him as if he was their idea of dessert. One of them immediately pounced on the young boy, slashing out with its claws and leaving a deep wound in Jak's side.

Present-day Jak flinched as his time twin let out a cry of sheer agony, collapsing onto his knees and pressing his hands to his side in an effort to stall the blood that flowed steadily from the cut. The Metal Heads — seeing this as a sign of weakness — converged around him, all-too-eager to sink their teeth into his flesh.

What no one in the room expected — apart from Damas' spirit — was the blonde-haired boy's response.

Purple lightning began crackling around Jak's body as his pupils expanded, completely engulfing the cerulean and white of his eyes. His skin bleached to a pale gray, and his hair darkened to a more ashen shade. Fearsome talons that put the Metal Heads' claws to shame grew in place of his fingernails, and horns sprouted from his temples.

With a feral roar, Jak launched himself at the nearest group of creatures, ripping through them with his sharpened nails as if they were wet cardboard. Animalistic battle cries turned into anguished screams as the monsters fell to the Eco Demon, one by one. Within seconds, the entire army that had dared to enter his home lay in unrecognizable pieces on the floor.

Panting heavily, past Jak slowly shifted back into his normal form, dropping onto all fours in the sea of bloodied remains. He glanced first at the still figure of his father, and then the mutilated body of his mother, fresh tears streaking their way down his face.

Older Jak collapsed onto his knees as well, as his legs simply would not support him any longer.

"You see, this was a time when you needed your sisters the most," Damas said quietly, placing a gentle hand on his son's shoulder. "Without them, you would have been left truly alone."

"Alone?" Jak echoed, tilting his head upwards so he could stare dazedly at the elder man. "Why would I be alone? I mean sure, I lost my family, but I'd still have Dax and Keira, right?"

"I was getting to that," Damas replied, waving his hand in the general direction of the destroyed living room. Jak watched in wonder as the scene shifted, revealing his younger self seated cross-legged in the center of the floor, staring blankly at his parents' bodies. The pools of blood that glistened on the floor had long-since dried, and the sounds of destruction and battle from out in the street had subsided into an eerie quiet.

Suddenly, a low creak drifted from the hallway, and a moment later a familiar teal-haired girl raced around the corner, her emerald irises alight with panic. She spotted Jak instantly and ran over to him, falling to the ground and throwing her arms around him.

"Jak!" she cried, clutching onto him as if the world would end should she let go. "Precursors, I'm so glad you're alright!"

Jak didn't answer, just continued to gaze at the fallen forms of his family, his visage void of any emotion.

Keira pulled back a few inches to study his face, her eyebrows furrowing when she realized how… lifeless he seemed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked gently, following the line of his vision. Her hand flew to her mouth in shock when she noticed what he was staring at, and then she turned back to him, sorrow etched into her pretty features. "Oh, Jak…"

Still the ocean-eyed boy didn't speak. His elder counterpart blinked sadly at the two childhood friends, thinking that he had never witnessed Keira look so upset before.

"Come on, Jak," the subdued girl whispered, rising to her feet again. "We should get out of here."

"No."

"No?" Keira repeated, frowning down at her closest companion. "Look, Jak, I know you're hurting right now, but it's not safe for us to —"

"I said no," Jak growled, his fingers curling into fists at his sides. He glanced up at Keira, his cerulean orbs reflecting limitless agony. "I can't leave them here."

"You don't have to," Keira assured him soothingly, placing her hand softly on his shoulder. "Daddy can come down in a little while and help us move them."

Again she got no response out of the boy at her feet. Biting her lip as if trying not to cry, Keira knelt beside Jak again and pulled him into a tender embrace.

"Jak, I'm so sorry," she breathed, holding the unresponsive elf tightly to her. "I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better…"

"Leave."

The sapphire-haired girl released Jak as if he'd shocked her, her emerald eyes widening with surprise.

"W-what?" she stammered, her expression making it clear that she hoped she'd heard him wrong.

"Leave," Jak repeated flatly, his empty gaze locked on his unmoving parents.

Keira recoiled from her best friend, her entire face radiating hurt. "Jak —"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Jak bellowed, rounding on her. His present-day counterpart gasped when he saw the young boy's gaze, the blue having been completely obliterated by bottomless ebony.

Her breath hitching in her throat, Keira backed away from the enraged teenager, moisture brimming under her deep green orbs and spilling over. A low, warning growl slid between Jak's teeth, and Keira choked back a sob, spinning on her heel and fleeing from the room.

As soon as she was out of sight, Jak's Dark transformation took over completely. With a scream of pure, untainted anguish, he leapt to his feet, a storm of violet lightning bouncing off the walls. The physical force of his grief proved to be too much for the ravaged house to handle, and the roof itself exploded in a blinding flash of Dark light.

Abruptly, the scene vanished, leaving present-day Jak and the spirit of Damas standing in the familiar kitchen of Jak's apartment, looking exactly as it had when they left.

"But father…" Jak muttered, his voice dull as he tried to absorb everything he'd just witnessed. "I would never lose control like that around Keira… or treat her that way…"

"Yes, the man you are today wouldn't," Damas agreed, his features grave. "But without your sisters for you to hold onto after your mother and I perished, there would have been nothing to stop you from giving in to your Darkness."

"So… what would that mean for me, then? And what about my friends?" Jak pressed, his forehead creased with worry.

"Ah, that, my son, is something I cannot answer," the elder of the two chuckled, smiling fondly down at Jak. "That is a question for your next visitor to handle."

"My next visitor?" Jak repeated, having completely forgotten that there were supposed to be two more ghosts dropping in on him.

"Yes, although I fear you may not be as happy to see him as you were me," Damas replied, laughing as if he were enjoying some private joke.

Jak opened his mouth to ask who the next spirit would be, and then realized he probably didn't want to know, if the look on his father's face was any indication.

"Now, I must take my leave," Damas sighed, his amusement subsiding and his smile fading to a wistful frown. "Farewell, Jak."

"Bye, Dad," Jak said quietly, throwing his arms around Damas briefly. The white-haired elf returned his son's embrace for a moment, and then the feel of his warmth disappeared, and Jak opened his eyes to realize that Damas was gone.

Heaving a sigh, Jak leaned against the nearest counter, his head spinning as images from the past Damas had showed him swirled in his mind.

His thoughts were rather rudely interrupted, however, when an all-too-familiar voice rang out from the other side of the room.

"Long time, no see, Eco Freak."

Jak whipped around to face the direction the words had come from, his gaze landing on a figure that he had hoped he'd never see again.

"Precursors, not you!"

**JKA: I miss those boys. **

**FES: Yeah, every time they see us they run away. **

**JKA: Even in class. **

**FES: I still remember them jumping out the window. **


	6. Present

The worst thing that the precursors had ever invented stood in Jak's living room: Erol. The amber haired man-machine walked toward the stunned elf.

"So, you ready?" Erol asked. Jak stepped back, away from Erol until the idiot hit the wall. "1. Wow, your stupid. And 2. I meant for the present." Jak sighed.

"Thank Mar." Jak sighed in relief.

"Wait, you didn't think that I meant-" Erol was cut off by Jak.

"The present you say! Let's go. Silent night. Holy night." Jak said while laughing nervously. Erol grabbed Jak's arm but stopped.

"By the way, I almost forgot." Erol said then slapped Jak behind the head. "That's for wishing the twins were never born." Erol slapped Jak again. "That's for having a hot mom." Erol slapped him again.

"What was _that _for?" Jak yelled. Erol shrugged.

"Nothing. I just like hitting you." Erol Said then grabbed Jak's arm. "Into the present you see, I'll show you how your live would've be."

Suddenly, Jak's living room shifted into a dark office with a young man sitting in the desk. The young man looked concentrated in paperwork. The only light in the office was a small lamp on it.

"What is this?" Jak asked Erol.

"Your work. After you yelled at Keira, another reason why I hit you, you joined the Mauraters as an assassin." Erol said. There was knock on the door and the young man looked up.

"It's open!" He yelled. A muscular, tall, blue haired man walked. He looked as if 'all work no play' was invented by him. "Ah, hello Skyepen. What are you doing here?" Skyepen took a seat across the young man.

"Jak, I need you assassinate a woman. Very beautiful and smart. But she came earlier with a gun and killed 3 men..." Skyepen paused. ".. including Travis, your adopted father." The young man - Jak - looked up from the papers. His expression was unreadable upon hearing the death of his adopted father.

"Who's Travis?" Twin's Jak said to Erol.

"Travis found you alone and knocked out at your house. He took you in and later adopted you as his own son, later, you worked for Skyepen, killing everyone for money." Erol explained. Without warning, the other Jak rose from his desk and flipped it over. He snatched the paper with her address from Skyepen. The office turned into an apartment. Outside, Jak walked up to it and banged on the door as hard as he could. Suddenly, Keira opened the door and out came a man.

"Came I help you?" Keira asked. The brother - version of Jak turned toward Erol.

"Who is that?" He asked.

"Keira's boyfriend. Ever since you yelled at her, you've grown apart and you've never got her pregnant." Erol replied. The other Jak grabbed Keira's forearms and pinned her to the wall inside the room. The man tried to get hold of Jak but Jak threatened to use dark eco on him. Jak then looked at Keira and noticed a photo frame hung on the wall, the picture was Jak as a ten - year - old at dance with Keira with an arm around her shoulders. He softened up, he sliced a scar on Keira's arm with his knife and ran out, shutting the door behind him making the vibration hit the frame and it knocked down. Keira began to cry as the man came closer. Keira was about to hug him but the scene stopped. The brother-version of Jak walked up to her and hugged her but the room turned into Jak's living room as Jak leaned in and went face full into the couch.

"That's cold." Jak said to Erol who had disappeared. Jak tried to walk to the kitchen but since he was now half awake, slammed into the wall.

"Still a klutz?" Asked a familiar voice. Jak turned round and groaned.

"You've got to be kidding me!"


	7. Future

**JKA: My chapter. Mine! Anyway, Here's chapter *counts fingers* seven! **

**FES: No! It's two!**

**JKA: Excuse my fantasy sister. **

**FES: If you excuse me, I need to go make cereal for Jak.**

**JKA: The milk is expired.**

**FES: What's you point?**

"So nice to see you, too," the gray-skinned man snorted, his raspy voice holding its own echo just as Jak remembered.

"Why is it that everyone I've ever killed always seems to come back to life just to annoy the hell out of me?" Jak groaned in exasperation, folding his arms over his chest crossly. "I thought I was through with you a _long_ time ago."

"Well, lucky for you, I'm already dead," Gol mocked, rolling his yellow eyes. "And sorry to disappoint you, fool, but I've been assigned the duty of showing you the future without your sisters."

"Come on, haven't I seen enough?" Jak complained, having no desire to go _anywhere_ with the lunatic Dark Sage. "I think I've learned my lesson."

"You may think so, but you lack sincerity," Gol disagreed, baring his teeth in the Dark creature form of a smile. "Besides, what would the past and the present be without the future?"

"But you're from over five hundred years in the past," the Eco-infused elf pointed out, grasping at straws in an effort to get out of this little time-trip so he could finally get some sleep. He had been travelling through time for the good part of two hours, after all. "So why are_ you _of all people in charge of taking me to the future?"

"Enough of your idiotic questions!" Gol snapped, causing Jak to take an involuntary step backwards. "We have no time to waste!"

Without giving the blonde-haired hero a chance to reply, Gol clapped his hands together, and the two of them were engulfed in a flash of violet light. Jak felt the distinct crackle of Dark Eco searing his veins, and his jaw clenched in an effort to stifle a cry of pain.

Barely a second had passed when the beam suddenly vanished, revealing shadowed and dreary surroundings.

"Where are we?" Jak inquired hesitantly, every nerve in his body set on-edge by the general gloom of this new area.

"This… is Haven Cemetery," the twisted Sage answered, "six years from present-day." His voice was oddly hushed, as if even he were affected by the uneasy atmosphere.

Blinking in surprise, Jak scanned the environment more closely. Sure enough, they appeared to be in an endless stretch of snow-covered field, its perimeter bordered by a wrought iron fence. Every few feet, a tombstone broke the smooth landscape, some falling apart while others were marred by years of wear. On one side of the graveyard, a broad oak tree towered over the landscape, its branches bare and weighed-down with flurry.

Overhead, ominous storm clouds provided a constant layer of tiny crystals drifting on the breeze.

"But why have you brought me here?" Jak pressed, wrapping his arms tightly around himself as if it would help keep the apprehension creeping up his spine at bay.

Rather than respond, Gol simply nodded in the direction of the oak tree.

Jak followed the line of his gaze in time to see two figures slowly approaching the tree, one several times shorter than the other. They both paused in front of one of the tombstones, their heads bowed as if in grief.

Recognition slammed into Jak almost instantly, and he cast a swift glance in Gol's direction, shocked.

"What are Daxter and Keira doing here?" he questioned, shifting his attention to his forlorn friends once more. Even though he and the duo were a considerable distance apart, he could clearly see their subdued expressions as if there were a spotlight shining on them.

"Would you stop asking me ridiculous things and go look for yourself?" Gol growled, obviously no happier about his role as spirit guide than Jak was.

Ignoring the contempt in his companion's tone, Jak began cautiously picking his way through the maze of ice-covered headstones, slowly approaching the colossal tree. He halted when he was mere feet from Keira's side, taking note of the single white rose she held in her hand. He studied both hers and Daxter's faces worriedly, wondering what could possibly have caused them to look so saddened.

For a long, immeasurable moment, the three of them stood in silence, both Keira and Daxter paying no heed to Jak's presence as they could not see him.

Finally, Keira spoke.

"Do you think he'd want us here?" she murmured, her tone laced with uncertainty.

"Of course," Daxter said soothingly, offering her a half-hearted smile. "After all, we were his best friends." He sounded as if he were trying to reassure himself as much as the woman beside him.

"Yes, _were_," Keira agreed quietly, gazing down at the ottsel with dull emerald irises. "But when was the last time you spoke to him, or even _saw_ him, before… the attack?" Her voice broke on the last word, and Jak felt as if someone had driven a shard of ice straight through his heart.

"Well…" Daxter hesitated, and Keira nodded grimly, taking his unfinished thought as a confirmation to her statement.

A horrible sense of foreboding tugged at Jak's subconscious, and his breathing kicked up a notch as he began to guess who his childhood companions were talking about.

"I never told you what happened the last time we met, did I?" Keira asked flatly, her grip tightening unconsciously on the stem of the rose.

"You mean the day his parents died?" Daxter presumed, tilting his head to one side in confusion. "You told me everything about that, Keir."

"No, it wasn't then," she whispered, causing Daxter's eyes to widen minutely. "I ran into Jak again about six years ago… or he ran into me, you could say."

"What happened?" the orange rodent pressed, biting his lip anxiously.

Jak winced as he recalled the vision of the past Erol had shown him, when he'd attempted to kill Keira without a second thought. In the end he'd left her with only a gash on her arm to remember him by, but the mere knowledge that his alternate-universe persona would willingly harm the teal-haired she-elf had his heart all-but-shattering.

"He came to the apartment where Devin and I were living," Keira began, fiddling with something on her left hand absentmindedly. Upon closer inspection, Jak realized it was a wedding ring, and with a painful jolt, he guessed that Devin must have been the man with Keira in the parallel present... the man she'd married.

"I opened the door, and I thought I'd gone insane when I saw him standing there. But before I even had the chance to say anything, he had me pinned against the wall and his knife at my throat."

Daxter's jaw dropped and all but froze to the snowy ground, causing Jak to flinch. Even though Keira's almost-murder hadn't really happened, the memory of watching himself mere inches from killing the woman he loved was not something he could easily forget.

"_What_?" Daxter demanded, looking as if he were about to pass out any second. "Are you trying to tell me that _Jak_, the same Jak that we both grew up with, tried to _assassinate _you?"

"Yes," Keira replied under her breath, her beautiful features void of any emotion. Only the quaver in her voice gave away the ache that was ripping through her chest like wildfire. "_Tried _being the key word. I guess the Marauders had put a hit on me, and they'd brainwashed Jak so far beyond the boy we used to know that he obeyed without question."

"Then how are you still standing here?" Daxter inquired, examining Keira as if he expected her to vanish the next time he blinked. "Those wasteland bastards turned our Jakky-boy into the ultimate killing machine. I've never heard of anyone who survived once he went after them."

"I had a picture of Jak and me when we were younger hanging up on the wall," the feminine mechanic explained, the subtle hint of tears beginning to leak into her words. "Jak saw it, and I guess he realized who I was. So he just wounded me and took off. After that, I never saw him again."

She brushed her fingers subconsciously along her forearm, and for the first time Daxter noticed the long scar that stretched from her elbow down to the heel of her hand.

For once, no words came to Daxter that would be appropriate for this situation, whether they be to console the heartbroken girl beside him or to lighten the mood. So he simply waved Keira down to his level, and when she kneeled next to him, he threw his arms around her neck in a comforting embrace.

"Thanks, Dax," she muttered, returning the gesture for a moment and then straightening up once more. Both long-time friends returned their attention to the grave at their feet, their faces identical masks of sorrow. Jak felt his heart crack painfully down the center as he watched two of the people that meant more to him than the world grieve over him.

"Remember what Jak used to be like before his parents were killed?" Daxter piped up wistfully, his sky-blue eyes clouded as if he were lost in his memories. "He may have had a bit of a temper, but you couldn't have asked for a better friend."

"I remember," Keira agreed, her tone scarcely audible. "He was the most loyal, trustworthy, and caring person you could ever hope to meet. And then… the Metal Heads attacked, and everything that made him who he was died along with his family."

"Is that why you went after the Marauder who kidnapped Jak?" the pants-clad ottsel wondered, quirking an eyebrow up at the sapphire-haired woman. Jak recalled a man from the vision of the alternate present saying that Keira had murdered three men, including his adopted father.

"Travis? Yes," Keira confirmed, her blank stare fixed on the tombstone in front of them. "I couldn't stand knowing that those monsters had twisted Jak like that, so much so that my best friend didn't exist anymore. Then one day… I just snapped. The next thing I knew, I had Travis' and two of his comrades' blood on my hands."

"Wow…" Daxter mumbled, unsure of what else to say. Jak simply gazed sadly at Keira, wishing there was something he could do to take away the anguish that glittered in her emerald eyes.

A beat of silence passed between the duo, broken only by the sounds of their breathing and the gentle breeze playing in the branches of the oak tree.

"If things hadn't changed, Jak would still be alive," Keira sighed eventually, her shoulders slumping as if she could no longer bear the weight of her remorse. "He wouldn't have attacked Spargus with the Marauders, and he wouldn't have been killed."

"I know." Daxter nodded slowly; Jak couldn't help but think that he'd never seen his partner-in-crime so downcast before. "There's nothing we can do about it now, though."

"But it's not fair!" Keira growled, a spark of anger flickering across her visage. "None of this should have happened! Damas and Sapphira shouldn't have died, and Jak shouldn't have been poisoned by those bastards!"

Tears began to brim beneath her eyes, and she fought them back stubbornly, although her cracking voice gave her away. "He had his whole life ahead of him… and now it's just gone."

"Just think, he's in a better place, Keir," Daxter tried to soothe her, wiping away his own tears with the back of his hand. "He's with his family again."

"Yeah, but he isn't with _us_," Keira murmured, her fingers curling more tightly around the rose as she clutched it to her chest. "He isn't with… me…"

Her sentence trailed away, and the broken pieces of Jak's heart crumbled to dust.

The two companions lapsed into silence again, both gradually losing their fights against their emotions.

A subtle movement from Keira caught Jak's attention, and he glanced at her in time to see her slide the wedding ring off of her finger. She studied it morosely for a moment, and then let it drop onto the snow covering the grave, her eyelids falling shut as soon as it left her grasp.

"Uh… Keira?" Daxter questioned, tilting his head to one side in confusion. "What are you doing?"

For a moment it appeared as if Keira weren't going to answer. She opened her mouth to speak a heartbeat later, however, her eyes still closed.

"I can't wear that anymore," she breathed, biting her lip as if trying to keep control over a fresh wave of tears. "It would just mark me as loyal to a man who was never really loyal to me."

"What do you mean?" the rodent beside her urged, concern now dominating his expression.

"Devin cheated on me," Keira elaborated, squeezing her eyelids more tightly shut. "I broke up with him after I found out. I decided to leave my ring here… as a way of apologizing to Jak for ever turning my back on him."

Daxter stared up at her, realization shadowing his furry features.

"You love Jak," he stated plainly, his tone suggesting that he already knew he was right.

"Yes," Keira confirmed, the moisture finally breaking free of her efforts to prevent it and spilling down her pale cheeks. "I always have, and I've never stopped loving him, even after all of this. I… I need him… and I'll never s-see him again.

"What really h-hurts, though, is that all those t-times I could have told him, and I didn't. And now he'll n-never know."

If everything she'd said before had wounded Jak, that was nothing compared to the sheer agony those words caused. Even in this twisted, sick world, — all a product of the absence of his sisters, he realized with a jolt — Keira still cared for him. Hell, he'd tried to _kill _her, and she still hadn't lost faith in him. He wanted nothing more in that instant than to grab her and hold her as if the world would end should he let go, but he knew that if he tried, she would simply go right through his body as if he were smoke.

The two males present watched in complete silence as the sobbing she-elf kneeled in front of the headstone marking the grave. She laid the delicate rose gently at the foot of the stone, rising slowly and gazing down at it, her face glistening with tear tracks.

"I love you, Jak," she whispered, her voice breaking on his name. She backed away until she stood level with Daxter again, wrapping her arms around herself as if she were suddenly cold.

For almost a full minute, the only thing that broke the hushed air was the sound of Keira's weeping and the gentle wind. The heartbroken woman and her ottsel companion stared unseeingly at the grave with their heads bowed, while Jak watched them grieve, powerless to do anything to ease their pain.

"Come on, Keir," Daxter muttered finally, tugging on her pant leg to capture her attention. "We should head back."

Nodding once, Keira attempted to brush away her tears and allowed Daxter to lead her away. Jak's eyes were trained on their retreating backs until the snowfall obscured them from his sight.

"I love you, too, Keira," he sighed, wishing she could have somehow heard him.

As soon as his friends were gone, Jak took their place in front of the tombstone, taking a closer look at the writing etched onto its surface for the first time. His stomach knotted uncomfortably and he had to swallow the lump that formed in his throat as he read the inoffensive words.

_Jak Mar._

_Born November 1st, 2486 – died February 8th, 2512._

_I died on my sisters' birthday?_ Jak wondered, another twinge of pain piercing his heart. He chewed on the inside of his lip to offer himself a distraction from the moisture burning at the corners of his eyes.

Beneath his birth and death dates, there was a short poem etched into the marble.

_Those that run from death,_

_Are those with no true courage._

_For some have been to hell and back,_

_And fear not death's passage._

_Though these brave souls may lose their way,_

_Their memories cannot rotten._

_For spirits as beloved as these,_

_Are lost but never forgotten._

The last line echoed in Jak's mind, sending pure, untainted anguish crashing over him and causing him to surrender to his emotions. Tears poured relentlessly down his cheeks, and he bent down to pick up the rose Keira had left, forgetting for the moment that anything he touched in this timeline would simply go right through him.

To his amazement, however, his fingers curled around the stem of the flower, and he was able to hold it in his hand. He brought it close to his nose and inhaled its scent, noting sorrowfully that a smell he could only define as Keira lingered on the petals as well.

"Enjoy the sob story, fool?" a raspy voice asked sarcastically, and a moment later Gol appeared beside him, examining the rose with a bored expression.

"Take me home," Jak whispered, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was crying from one of his oldest enemies. "I need to see my family… and tell them I'm sorry."

"As you wish."

Gol clapped his hands together, and the two of them were once more engulfed in a blinding violet light. Jak blinked as his eyes tried to adjust to the sudden change, and when he opened them again he found himself standing in his familiar kitchen, looking exactly as it had when he'd left it.

A swift glance at the clock told Jak that it was nearly two in the morning. He turned to Gol to thank the Dark Sage for showing him the future, only to discover that the gray-skinned elf had already vanished.

"Precursors, he's even less friendly than Erol…" Jak grumbled to himself. Drying the tear tracks from his skin, Jak inhaled deeply and exited the kitchen, white rose still in his hand, heading down the hall with only one destination in mind.

**JKA: The next chapter is the chapter that Jak ... says he's sorry! *Gasp***

**FES: *Brings out a camera* I'm already prepared!**

**JKA: First black mail, then we'll get you serious help.**

**FES: Again!**


	8. Santa and Surprises

**FES: *Cries***

**JKA: Don't worry, we'll make more. **

**FES: But, we worked so hard! **

**JKA: We just need to make more.**

**FES: NOTHING CAN REPLACE MEATLOAF!**

Jak took one more sniff at the white rose and sprinted down the hall. He bursted threw the door, causing Aleighna and Chris to jolt up in fear of an attack.

"I didn't mean it, Keira!" Aleighna yelled.

"I didn't steal Justin Fox's Grammy Award!" Chris said after her sister. Aleighna rubbed her eyes trying to get rid of the sleep out of them so she can look at the figure. Chris' eyes were awake before Aleighna's and she identified the figure. Before Jak could react, a blue pillow flew at his head.

"Get. Out!" Aleighna screamed. Her and Chris were still mad at what Jak had said to them. Jak scooped up the girls in his arm for a breath-taking hug. He whispered two word he'd never said to anyone but Keira:

_I'm sorry ..._

Chris and Aleighna gasped at their brother's words. In all their lives, Jak had never said that unless he was forced to say it by his parents. The girls smiled and hugged their brother back.

"We love you." They said in unison. Jak's heart skipped three beats.

"I love you more." Jak whispered. Aleighna started to have tears of joy pouring down her cheeks. She looked at Chris who's face was red from keeping the tears in. Then there was a flash that broke up the hug. They looked at the door and Aunt Kelly was there with a camera. Kelly smiled.

"To show the baby." Aunt Kelly said smiling. The twins smiled at each other and kissed their brother's cheek. Kelly took another picture and Keira came up.

"What did you do to Aleighna?" Keira asking pointing at Aleighna's wet face. Chris eyes widened and she gasped.

"Santa came last night!" She yelled. Her and Aleighna ran to the Christmas tree in the corner. They suddenly heard a knock on the door and they went to answer. All their friend came in, even Annie. Sig came running in.

"Cherries! Ashelin is missing!" Sig said. The twins looked at each other and smiled.

"Lookie there, there is a Santa!" Aleighna cheered. The twins' smiles turned into frowns for the fact that Ashelin was already there. "Crap!"

Aleighna sat down on the ground next to her sister, thankfully, it's youngest to oldest to open presents. Aleighna looked at an envelope that had both their names on it. Aleighna opened it and read the letter. Aleighna smiled and grabbed something from the envelope. She leaned close to her twin, whispered something in her ear and gave her the object unnoticed. "Well, that's all we got." Chris announced. Next was Keira who got a big tub of black coffee from the twins, a shirt from Ashelin, an 'Expecting Mothers' guide from Jak, and other stuff she liked. Jak got a knife but dropped it. It was the exact same one from his present vision. He looked at it until Ashelin spoke up.

"You don't like it?" Ashelin asked. Jak just shook.

"Please, if you touched it, its cursed!" Aleighna said. Jak opened more stuff and then it was Daxter's turn. He got a Play Boy magazine and other stuff like that. Next was Tess who got a big pink bow from Daxter. They all enjoyed their presents, except for Ashelin. She got a crocadog bowl with the words 'Fido' crossed out and 'Ashelin' wrote on top of it.

"It came with doggy treats and a matching collar for you and Annie!" Chris said. She and Aleighna smiled like saints.

"Don't eat them all at once!" Aleighna warned. Aleighna nodded in Chris' direction and Chris passed the object to Jak. Chris whispered something into Jak's ear. Jak looked at it and it was a ring. The ring had a clear little stone on it and a silver frame. Jak walked to Keira but she just walked away. Keira didn't get far before Jak grabbed her.

"Keira! Before you shut me out, I have one word: Your." Jak said. Annie was about to say something but Aleighna kicked her legs from under her. The girls noticed Keira's face.

"What?" Keira asked.

"Your love is what kept me going, your guns kept me safe, your my soul, your my life, your the mother of our child, your who I love more then the twins." Jak said. The twins glared at him. Jak's hand traveled from her cheek to her hair. "I need to know you love me and only me. Do you love me and me only?"

Keira looked into her blue eyes. "No." She said. The fourteen-year-olds both fainted and was caught by their aunt and uncle. Jak's heart seemed to stop and pump back up. Ashelin started to dance. Collin looked at Kelly.

"Go for it." Kelly said trying to revive Aleighna. Collin walked to Ashelin.

"Are you celebrating that you finally choose to disinflate those things you call boobs?" Collin asked. "That was for my nieces." Collin walked back to revive Chris. Aleighna woke up and so did Chris. They got up and were about to tell Keira off but Keira spoke.

"I love you and our baby." Keira said. Then, Ashelin passed out like a black out. The twins smile.

"Keira Hagai, will you marry me?" Jak asked. Keira first looked at the twins to make sure they did pass out again. Jak showed her the ring. Keira had tears pouring down her cheeks and ...

"Yes."

Jak hugged Keira and everyone cheered. Chris had something wet on her cheek. Aleighna looked at her. "Dude, are you crying?" Aleighna asked.

Chris wiped her eyes quickly. She _hates _being watched while crying. Aleighna gave her a look and Chris cried on her shoulder.

"They grow up so fast!" Chris cried. Aleighna began to cry too. They stopped and Ashelin's black out wore out. She groaned and sat up.

"What happened?" She asked. The twins started to wrestle each other to tell Ashelin about the proposal. They tried to pin each other down.?

"Jak," Aleighna began.

"Proposed-" Chris said. Aleighna managed to pin Chris down by laying on her back.

"Keira said yes!" Aleighna rushed. Ashelin walked to the kitchen and grabbed a knife but her precursor-damn sister stopped her. Aleighna still laid on Chris.

"What does this remind me of?" Chris asked. She pictured herself wearing her devil costume that was packed in a small box, hiding in the darkest corner of her closet. Aleighna imagined herself in her angel costume that was under her pillow - next to a picture of Sapphira holding her - guarded by her old baby doll.

"Oh yeah, it was Halloween and we just got to Kras!" Aleighna said. Chris laughed.

"Oh yeah! The time _you _landed on me!" Chris said and pushed Aleighna off of her. They got up and saw their brother kissing Keira. The twins looked at the corner and saw all of their friends and family hugging and cheering - except for Annie and Ashelin - for Jak's proposal. The Christmas cookie crumbs on the plate spelled 'Happy Holidays'. The twins looked around and smiled. This clearly was the best Christmas they ever had since their parents' death.

"Hey Aleighna, what did the letter say?" Chris asked. Aleighna gave her the letter. Chris looked at it. "Aleighna?"

"Yes?"

"There's nothing on it." Chris said showing Aleighna. Aleighna could have sworn that the letter had words. Jak came up to them and put the white rose in Aleighna's hair. He grabbed a bow from a present and put it on Chris' shirt.

"Your both my present. You," Jak pointed at Aleighna. "If it wasn't for you to tell us how to get out the house, we'd be with mom and dad." Jak kissed Aleighna's forehead. He pointed at the late born twin. "If it wasn't for you to call Keira at the accident, we'd be burned crisp." He playfully, lightly punched her cheek. The girls felt like they were getting an award. "I want you girls to be happy."

"We are with you." Aleighna said. Suddenly, there was knock on the door. The twins went to open it and a girl their age was there.

"HALEY?" They both said in unison. The blue haired girl stood in front of them. She had a dance bag around her shoulder.

"Hi Aleighna! Hi Chris!" She said as she spotted Jak. "Hey Mr. Mar." Jak looked at her and noticed she was the one who was following him the day of the ultra sound. He walked in the room with Keira.

"Um, why are you here?" Aleighna asked. Its not everyday a schoolmate came to their house.

"Are you kidding? He's HOT!" Haley said. She pointed to the door.

"Well, add her to our 'Girls who (somehow) like Jak' list." Chris said as she shut the door in Haley's face.

"See you and your hot brother in dance." Said Haley as she walked away. The twin shrugged and went to get dress for the snow. They passed by Mr. Davis on their way down.

"Hey Mr. Davis!" Aleighna said.

"Bye Mr. Davis!" Chris said. Mr. Davis looked at them as they ran outside and was met by some friends. They played while Jak watched them.

"Their growing." Jak said. He didn't like to watch them as from one minute, two seven-year-old girls crying over the death of their parents to two fourteen-year-old girls who smile as much as they can.

"There is nothing you can do to stop them. They will grown older and older." Keira said as she pulled Jak toward her.

"Is there like pills they can take?" Jak asked. Keira giggled and kissed him until a snowball hit the window.

"Stop kissing!" six voices said in unison. Jak looked at them. "I'm going to murder them!" Said Jak.

**FES: The last of chapter of our story. **

**JKA: Don't cry! One, because we'll make more, and two, WE should be crying, NO ONE REVIEWED! **

**FES: Yeah! PLEASE! PLEASE! REVIEW! **


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